Golden yellow season arrives in Kashmir as countryside turns magical with colours, Cicada’s whine
Kashmir’s autumn transforms the Valley into golden landscapes, with paddy harvests, Chinar trees turning crimson, Cicada songs, and apple orchards. Farmers, herders, and locals embrace the season’s beauty while preparing for harsh winter.
Srinagar: An autumnal sun shines over the golden yellow countryside of Kashmir, where grain-laden paddy fields glisten as farmers hasten to gather their crop.
Nomadic goatherds, the Bakarwals, move down from highland meadows with their families and livestock to spend the next seven months in the warmer plains.
In rain-fed areas, villagers harvest maize crops while shouting to ward off bears that descend into fields to feed on the succulence. With human intrusion into wild habitats, incidents of man-animal conflict have risen alarmingly, with wild animals destroying maize fields, injuring people, lifting poultry, and attacking livestock.
On willow trees, the Cicada bug’s high-pitched whine reminds locals to make hay while the sun shines.
Apple growers are busy packing fruit into boxes for markets outside Jammu and Kashmir, though disruptions on the Srinagar–Jammu highway have caused heavy losses. Grapes ripen in vineyards at Rapore village in Ganderbal, famed for its quality produce.
Ducks and swans in lakeside villages return earlier to coops, wary of jackals. The majestic Chinar trees turn crimson, amber, and gold — their fiery hues inspiring the Persian phrase Chi Naar (“What Fire!”). Fallen Chinar leaves form thick carpets on the ground, later used as charcoal for the earthen firepot, the Kangri, tucked beneath the traditional Pheran to combat the winter chill.
With electricity erratic in the cold months, families stockpile charcoal. Seasonal routines include drying tomatoes, brinjals, and pumpkins in the autumn sun for the snowbound winter, when Dal Lake freezes at minus 8–10 degrees Celsius.
As migratory birds arrive in bird sanctuaries and the crisp air nudges locals into woollens and blankets, autumn dishes like Shabdeg — rooster simmered with turnips — remain unmatched, even against luxury hotel fare.
It is rightly said: if a tourist has not seen Kashmir in autumn, they have not seen enough of Kashmir.