(14 Apr 2025)
INDIA KASHMIR FESTIVAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
LENGTH: 4:19
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Aishmuqaam, Indian-controlled Kashmir – 12 April 2025
++EVENING SHOTS++
1. Drone shot of 15th-century shrine of Hazrat Zain-ud-Din wali, burning torches visible ++MUTE++
2. Wide of people holding torches
3. Close of torches with minaret of the shrine in background
4. Various of people holding torches
5. SOUNDBITE (Kashmiri) Muhammad Ramzan Bhat, Aishmuqaam resident:
"We light these torches for blessings and peace. If we stop this practice, God forbid, we might be struck by an epidemic. We continue this tradition so that the Almighty’s divine blessings keep showering upon us. It also protects us from illness and misfortune, God willing."
6. Various of people holding torches
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Aishmuqaam, Indian-controlled Kashmir – 12 April 2025
++DAYTIME SHOTS++
7. Various drone shots of shrine ++MUTE++
8. Wide pan of shrine
9. Close of minarets
10. Various of people touching in reverence a chain tied with coloured threads at the entrance of the shrine in the belief that their desires will be fulfilled
11. Various of smoke rising from incense sticks
12. Various of devotee Ali Muhammad offering blessing upon Prophet Muhammad at the shrine
13. SOUNDBITE (Kashmiri) Ali Muhammad, devotee:
"This is a place of peace and solace, and coming here rejuvenates one’s faith. If we stay away from such places, we are at a loss. In this place, we feel deep contentment."
14. Various of people praying
15. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Ashiq Ahmed, shrine official:
"People have increasingly distanced themselves from spiritualism, as it used to be a way of life for our forefathers. Modernity is impacting this outlook. However, there are still people who follow Sufism and continue to seek how one can attain spiritualism."
16. Various of people in a queue inside the cave at the shrine
17. Various of people carrying wooden torches as they ascend a hilltop
18. Wide of people holding wooden torches on the hilltop
19. Various of Ahmed Wani, a local villager, as he waits to light the torch
20. SOUNDBITE (Kashmiri) Ahmed Wani, local villager:
"The tradition of burning torches has been here for the last 700 years. I have also been burning it for 50 years. It gives us inner peace."
21. Various of people holding lit torches ++NIGHT SHOTS++
STORYLINE:
LEADIN:
Villagers in India-controlled Kashmir have been burning torches in a centuries-old religious tradition.
The custom carried out at the Hazrat Zain-ud-Din Wali shrine honours a Sufi saint.
STORYLINE:
Flames light up the night as hundreds of villagers climb a hillside, each carrying a burning torch.
The shrine of Hazrat Zain-ud-Din Wali is the centre of this striking ritual.
Devotees come to honour a revered 15th-century Sufi saint.
The torch festival marks the end of winter and the beginning of the sowing season, beginning after the evening prayers.
As darkness falls, the sound of the call to prayer drifts over the valley.
The hill comes alive with flames, chants and footsteps.
The torches are made from pinewood, their fire symbolises resilience and the warmth of spiritual faith.
Muhammad Ramzan Bhat is a resident of Aishmuqaam.
He says: “We light these torches for blessings and peace. If we stop this practice, God forbid, we might be struck by an epidemic. We continue this tradition so that the Almighty’s divine blessings keep showering upon us. It also protects us from illness and misfortune, God willing.”
Pilgrims arrive from dozens of nearby villages to take part.
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