The name of the mystic poetess Lal Ded (Lalleshwari) is associated with:

Lal Ded, also known as Lalleshwari, Lalla Arifa or Lalla Yogeshwari, was a 14th-century mystic poetess of Kashmir.

About Lal Ded:

• She was born around 1320 CE in Pandrethan (Puranadhishthana), near Srinagar, into a Kashmiri Pandit family.
• She was married at a young age, but her married life was unhappy, and she left home to become a wandering ascetic.
• She was a follower of Kashmir Shaivism ("Trika" philosophy) and became a disciple of the Shaiva teacher Siddha Srikanth (Sed Bayu).
• She wandered half-clad, singing her verses, and rejected rituals, idol worship and caste distinctions.

Her poems are called "vakhs" (or "vaakh"). They are short, four-line verses in the Kashmiri language, expressing her spiritual experiences and her search for the divine within.

She is regarded as one of the founders of Kashmiri literature; her vakhs are among the earliest works in the Kashmiri language.

She is respected by both Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir. Hindus call her "Lalleshwari" and Muslims call her "Lalla Arifa".

She influenced the Sufi saint Sheikh Nuruddin Noorani (Nund Rishi), the founder of the "Rishi" order of Kashmir, who is regarded as her spiritual successor. A popular legend says that she breast-fed the infant Nund Rishi.

Her vakhs were passed on orally for centuries and were later collected and translated into English by scholars such as George Grierson and Lionel Barnett ("Lalla-Vakyani", 1920).

Other women saint-poets of India:

• Meerabai: Rajasthan; Krishna devotee.
• Akka Mahadevi: Karnataka; Veerashaiva poet, 12th century.
• Janabai and Bahinabai: Maharashtra; Varkari saints.
• Andal: Tamil Nadu; the only female Alvar.
• Habba Khatun: Kashmir; 16th-century poetess, called the "Nightingale of Kashmir".

Why not the other options?

• ✗Rajasthan is associated with Meerabai.
• ✗Maharashtra is associated with Janabai.
• ✗Karnataka is associated with Akka Mahadevi.