Lalleshvari - Definition and Overview

In literature of India, Lalleshvari (लल्लेश्वरी) (14th century) is also known as Lalla, and was a Hindu poet of the Shaivaite sect. Her verses are the earliest compositions in the Kashmiri language that have come down to us.

She was born in Pandrenthan (ancient Puranadhisthana) some four and a half miles to the south-east of Srinagar. She was married at an early age, but her marriage was unhappy and she left home at twenty-six to become a disciple of the Shaivite guru Siddha Srikantha.

Lalleshvari has been very influential in shaping Kashmiri culture and attitudes to life and religion. She came along after the Islamic conquest of Kashmir that disrupted its high tradition in philosophy and the arts and her sayings constituted a memory of the Kashmiri classical age in the popular consciousness. Her poems (called vakhs) have been translated into English by Richard Temple, Jia Lal Kilam, and Jaishree Odin.