Srinagar, Sept. 10 -- Lal Ded, also known as Lalleshwari, is among the most revered figures in the cultural and spiritual history of Kashmir. Believed to have lived in the fourteenth century, she was a mystic, poet and seeker whose vaakhs transformed the spoken language of Kashmir into a vehicle for profound spiritual reflection.
Born into a Kashmiri Brahmin family and married at an early age, Lal Ded eventually turned away from the conventions of domestic life and embarked upon a life of spiritual seeking. She is traditionally associated with the Shaiva teacher Siddha Srikantha, under whose influence her inward journey deepened. She wandered through Kashmir, speaking her verses in the language of the people rather than in the formal langu...