kanger

File:Kashmiri Kanger.jpg

After the earthen pots are moulded and fired, the artisans complete the wickerwork around them,{{cite book |title=Symbolism of the East and West |url=https://archive.org/details/symbolismeastan00birdgoog |last=Murray-Aynsley |first=Harriet Georgiana Maria Manners-Sutton |author2=George Christopher Molesworth Birdwood |year=1900 |publisher=Redway |oclc=60177010 |page=208 }} by erecting two arms to handle the pot, propping the back side with strong wicker sticks, and colour it (optionally) to give an aesthetically delicate shape.{{cite book |title=Basketry in India |last=Singh |first=Kumar Suresh |year=1993 |publisher=Ministry of Human Resource Development (India) |oclc=30361817 |page=28 }}

It is generally believed that Kashmiris learned the use of the kanger from the Italians who were in the retinue of the Mughal emperors and usually visited the Valley during summer.{{cite book |title=Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak |author=India Quarter Master General's Dept. |year=1991 |publisher=Sang-e-Meel Publications |isbn=978-969-35-0104-9 |page=476 }} In Italy (where a similar device was known as a [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scaldino scaldino]){{cite book |title=Central Asia |last=MacGregor |first=Charles Metcalfe |author2=F. Maisey |author3=Charles Ellison Bates |year=1995 |publisher=Barbican |isbn=978-1-900056-30-4 |page=38 }} and Spain, braziers were made in a great variety of shapes and were profusely ornamented. Historical data, however, contradict the claim that kanger came to Kashmir from Italy, but it is known that it was used in the time of the Mughal Empire.{{cite book |title=Kashmir under the Mughals, 1586-1752 |last=Mattoo |first=A. Majid |year=1988 |publisher=Golden Horde Enterprises |oclc=19811895 |page=137 }} Those visiting Kashmir for the first time during the winter season are surprised to find people carrying fire pots in their hands or in their laps{{cite book |title=Travels in Kashmir, Ladak, Iskardo, the Countries Adjoining the Mountain-course of the Indus, and the Himalaya, North of the Panjab ...: With Map. |last=Vigne |first=G. T. |year=1844 |publisher=Henry Colburn |oclc= 5970833 |page=317 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3noOAAAAQAAJ&q=%22Ai+kangri%21+ai+kangri%22&pg=PA317 }} but every Kashmiri knows how to handle the apparatus with care. It is a part of Kashmiri tradition and even in modern times it sees a huge demand, and is even used in public or private offices during winters.

Kanger are widely used in Kashmir. Its use is most prevalent in the countryside where power cuts during winters are frequent.{{Cite web |last=Fayaz |first=Aiman |date=2023-12-24 |title=Video: Kashmir Kangri Survives The Modernity Shift, Still a Big Business |url=https://kashmirlife.net/video-kashmir-kangri-survives-the-modernity-shift-still-a-big-business-336201/ |access-date=2025-01-06 |website=Kashmir Life |language=en-GB}} Generally, everyone in the household has one. In some urban households, other devices, such as hot water bottles, blowers and electric blankets, have taken their place.

Aromatic seeds, such as isband (Peganum harmala), are often burnt in a kanger for ceremonial purposes.{{cite web |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071202/spectrum/main3.htm |title= Warm up to kangri

|author= Rajesh Bhat |date= 2 December 2007}}

Beyond Kashmir, people of the erstwhile Hill states of Himachal, Uttarakhand, and some parts of Nepal also use other local variants of kanger.

In 2015, a shopkeeper in Srinagar commissioned a kanger, described as the world's largest, to attract customers to his textile shop. Kashmir Life reported that the size, over a metre long, posed technical challenges to the wicker-weavers.{{cite news|last1=Aafaq|first1=Zafar|title=The 'Biggest Kanger' and the Sales Thereof|url=http://www.kashmirlife.net/the-biggest-kanger-and-the-sales-thereof-94510/|access-date=10 November 2016|agency=KL NEWS NETWORK|publisher=Kashmir Life|date=17 January 2016}}

Kangeris are weaved by small scaled farmers known as kanile.

Charari Sharief town is the most famous for a peculiar kind of kanger called "charar kangir". Anantnag is also another major producer. The sector is not organized but is covered under different government schemes.{{Cite news|url=https://m.greaterkashmir.com/news/business/in-line-with-cm-s-direction-jk-bank-launches-micro-finance-initiative-adopts-village-in-kulgam/235470.html|title=Greater Kashmir|last=Kashmir|first=Greater|date=6 December 2016|access-date=21 February 2019|archive-date=21 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221000219/https://m.greaterkashmir.com/news/business/in-line-with-cm-s-direction-jk-bank-launches-micro-finance-initiative-adopts-village-in-kulgam/235470.html|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/2003/11/10/stories/2003111001730300.htm|website=The Hindu|title=Kangri under threat of extinction|date=2003-11-10|access-date=2019-02-21}}{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

This Kashmiri proverb, "what Laila was on Majnun’s bosom (Legendary Lovers), so is the Kanger to a Kashmiri", sums up the relationship between a Kashmiri and the Kanger and its cultural importance, which is also shown by this verse:

:Ai kangri! ai kangri!

:Kurban tu Hour wu Peri!

:Chun dur bughul mi girimut

:Durd az dil mi buree.

:(Oh, kangri! oh, kangri!

:You are the gift of Houris and Fairies;

:When I take you under my arm

:You drive fear from my heart.)

Regular use of the kanger can cause a specific skin cancer known as kangri cancer.{{cite book |title=Cancer |last=Raven |first=Ronald William |year=1957 |publisher=Butterworth |oclc=2730378 |page=277 }} This effect was first studied by W. J. Elmslie in 1866 and was thought to be caused by burns, but it is now thought to be the result of a carcinogenic distillation product of woodcoal.{{cite book |title=Particulate Polycyclic Organic Matter |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_mVwrAAAAYAAJ |author=National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Biologic Effects of Atmospheric Pollutants |year=1972 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |isbn=978-0-309-02027-5 |page=193}}{{Contradictory inline|article=Cancer|section=Physical agents|date=March 2016}}

The tourism department of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has finalised to celebrate 'Pheran and Kangri Day’ on Feb 19 to promote Kashmiri culture.{{Cite web|last=Naqash|first=Tariq|date=2020-02-13|title=Arrangements finalised to mark day promoting Kashmiri culture|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1534134|access-date=2021-01-08|website=DAWN.COM|language=en}}

• Phiran
• Chillai Kalan
• Hand warmer
• Kangri Cancer
• Pulhoer

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{{Jammu and Kashmir}}

Category:Culture of Jammu and Kashmir

Category:Kashmiri culture

Category:Heating