The Kashmiri Pandits dedicate their New Year festival, Navreh, to which goddess?

Navreh is the New Year festival of the Kashmiri Pandits, celebrated on the first day of the bright half of the month of Chaitra (March-April), at the same time as Gudi Padwa and Ugadi. It is dedicated to Goddess Sharika, the presiding deity of Srinagar, who is worshipped at the Hari Parbat hill in the city.

The word "Navreh" comes from the Sanskrit "nav varsha", meaning new year. It marks the beginning of the Saptarishi calendar (Saptarishi Samvat), the traditional calendar of the Kashmiri Pandits, which is said to have started more than 5,000 years ago.

On the eve of Navreh, a special plate (thali) is prepared. It contains a bowl of unhusked rice, bread, a pen, salt, curd, walnuts, flowers, a small mirror, coins, a gold or silver ornament, and the new almanac (jantri or nechipatra) of the year. Early in the morning on Navreh, the first thing that members of the family see is this thali, as a sign of prosperity, knowledge and good fortune in the new year. People then bathe, often with walnuts placed in the water, wear new clothes and visit the temple of Goddess Sharika at Hari Parbat. Families prepare special dishes and visit relatives. Navreh is followed, two days later, by Zang Trai, when women visit their parents' homes.

Goddess Sharika is worshipped in the form of a sacred rock (shila) on the slopes of Hari Parbat, and is regarded as a form of Durga or Shakti. According to legend, she took the form of a myna bird (har) and dropped a pebble on a demon, which grew into the Hari Parbat hill.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Goddess Ragnya (Kheer Bhawani) is worshipped at Tulmul, near Srinagar, especially at the Kheer Bhawani mela in Jyeshtha.
• ✗Goddess Vaishno Devi is worshipped at the Trikuta hills near Katra in Jammu.
• ✗Goddess Sharada is the goddess of learning, whose ancient temple (Sharada Peeth) is in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.