Vomedh celebrated WANWUN the pious compassionate rich musical heritage and cultural legacy in exile.

Vomedh, organized study and Research, Documentation and Training in
WANWUN, FOLKLORE of Kashmir approved by the Ministry of Culture ,
Government of India, New Delhi ( BTI SECTION ) under the scheme,
(preservation and Development of Cultural Heritage of Himalaya) for
the year 2020 – 21.

Vomedh is one of the leading theatrical groups in propagating the
social cultural heritage of our Union Territory through the medium of
short and long full length plays, nukad nataks, musical operas, fancy
dress shows, awards winning, National and International short film
“Exodus and Exile”, First time ever prestigious Jammu Film Festival,
conducts workshops and nukad natak on Swatch Bharat Abhiyan, Female
Fetus, Beti padao Beti Bachao, Evils of Dowry system, Go Green,  evils
of drug abuse spreading awareness and engaging youth in cultural
activities to remain fit in mind and body. During Covid – 19 Pandemic
Vomedh engaged people in all art forms vertically, be it an actor,
director, poet, singer, dancer, painter, writer, doctor, Social
Worker, Educator, journalist, practically from all walks of life and
all age groups shared and entertained people sitting at home in
lockdown. Vomedh feels proud and is thankful to the Ministry of
Culture, Government of India, New Delhi, under the scheme Preservation
& Development of Cultural Heritage of Himalaya. Laying trust and
confidence in our project “Wanwun”, Rich Musical Heritage and Cultural
Legacy of Kashmiri Pandits.

Wanwun project was conceived by president,  Director Vomedh  Rohit
Bhat,  researched by Bharti Kaul, Rakesh Roshan Bhat and Rohit Bhat.
It took three full months to get it on rails, as it is the oldest form
of Kashmiri folk singing. Wanwun is sung on a fixed beat with a spoken
word type rhythm. The tune is always the same, depending on which
event it is sung. With the passing of time,  Kashmiri pandits in
exile, language and rituals are practically at ebb, we need to save
our traditions for which Wanwun is a very important part that needs to
be preserved and passed on to our coming generations, who are
scattered all over the Globe. For this purpose Vomedh held many
workshops with ladies,  school and college going girls to educate them
about the importance and relevance of Wanwun.  Music has no language
as the saying goes then why should we give up on the music that is
unique in nature and has spiritual aspect of invoking the blessings of
deities for the rituals like Yagnopavit and marriage. The importance
of “Bhramaji” who is a spiritual guru that every household of Kashmiri
Pandit Community had coming home on auspicious occasions giving
blessings performing pujas  preaching Vedic mantras lost its essence
when people after exodus were struggling for survival, education of
siblings and earning livelihood. Bollywood songs took over wanwun and
traditional Kashmiri songs where all family members neighbors friends
would join in to enjoy the rituals. Vomedh took workshops
systematically. First explaining the meaning of wanwun, why it starts
with ” henzey” what each function meant as the rituals progressed.

Wanwum was held today  at KP Sabha, Amphalla, Jammu. Function started
with a welcome speech by president, Director Rohit Bhat. He welcomed
the Guest of Honour, Dr. Ramesh Raina, President AIKS Guest of Honour,
K. K. Khosa, president KP Sabha, Amphalla , Dr. Sudhir Mahajan

Sh. K.K. Khosa  was highly appreciative of the wanwun project that
suggested the revival of our traditional culture. He said more such
programmes must be done for the promotion of  our culture and
language. He appreciated the artists on stage. Dr. Ramesh Raina and Dr.
Sudhir Mahajan were also of the same opinion. They said that we must
stay connected with our language and wanwun has to be kept alive. Our
culture and traditions must be preserved and the young generation
needs orientation and knowledge of rituals so that we don’t lose our
identity in the vast cultural diversity of our country. The August
audience present enjoyed each cultural item that led to the wanwun. It
is imperative to note that wanwun has been kept alive till date by the
ladies who still form a small group at the auspicious occasions to
invoke the blessings of deities. Some scholars have written  “wanwun
Vachan’s” in the form of “wanwun mala”. Ladies sing and recite from
books, cassettes and CD’S at times. But it does not catch the
attention of youngsters. They prefer to sing and dance to make merry
on marriage occasions on filmi songs and western tunes. It is
noteworthy to know that this Vedic form of singing is wholly solely
the responsibility of women folk as has been the tradition from times
immemorial. As wanwun is purely a Vedic form, it maintains  the
sanctity and purity of sacred rivers Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati. From
the inception of rituals like Lagna cheer, saath Ratun, livun,
manziraat, devgun, maharaza Vatun, dwar pooza, poshpooza , bidai
Reception and many more functions on both sides.. brides side and
bridegroom side, wanwun is the crowning glory of all events. Bride and
groom are worshiped as Shiv and Parvati. The whole atmosphere becomes
one with God Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Our  workshops saw many
students taking interest and singing wanwun in the same accent after
learning the importance of each syllable. Once again we are thankful
to the Ministry of Culture, Govt of India under the scheme
Preservation and Development of Cultural Heritage of Himalaya for
laying trust in Vomedh  and giving us the opportunity to present and
inspire youngsters in observing wanwun rituals at all functions. It
was a wonderful feeling and achievement for us to conduct the
workshops for wanwun and to see the numbers increasing each time. The
artists who took part in the wanwun event are…Bharti Kaul, sunny
mujoo,  king c bharti, suman Bhat, priya khar, ajay waguzari, daizy,
rajesh khar and team, pooja, kiran,  manisha, bhavna, yasmeen, miksha,
ravika, priya, rubina and preeti. Sunny mujoo is the choreographer.

The event concluded with the bidai of bride for her new life at her in
laws place where again she is received with the ritual of wunwun
showering blessings from

Vote of thanks was given by bharti kaul. She thanked the dignitaries
and the audience for sparing their valuable time for the wanwun event.