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The
origin of cashmere dates back to ancient
civilization and has been traced back
to the times of Mahabharata. As a
last attempt at peace, Krishna Himself
traveled to Hastinapur to persuade
the Kauravas for peace. At the formal
presentation of the peace proposal
by Krishna at the court of Hastinapur,
Krishna's peace proposals were ignored,
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Duryodhana
publicly ordered his soldiers to arrest
Krishna. Krishna laughed at his mortal
attempts, and displayed his divine
form, blinding the soldiers and everyone
in court with his radiating light.
The beautiful divine form of the Lord
could be perceived only by those pure
in heart, Bhishma, Drona, and Vidura.
With His peace mission rejected by
Duryodhana, Krishna returned to Upaplavya
to inform the Pandavas that there
was now no alternative to war for
the upholding of the principles of
virtue and righteousness. |
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While
Lord Krishna going back from Hastinapur,
Dhritarastra offered Lord Krishna 80 blankets
made from the finest wool from the Himalayas.
It is believed that those blankets were
made from cashmere which was brought all
the way from Nepal.
The art of
wearing wool products by hand has been practiced
throughout the country remains popular today
as its rugged conditions have not changed.
Due to gradual popularity and commercialization
of cashmere there are variety of cashmere
is being offered in the market like: cashmere
shawls, cashmere stoles, cashmere scarves,
cashmere sweaters, cashmere mufflers, and
variety of other cashmere products. These
luxurious cashmere shawls are hand woven
by traditional weavers whose families have
been in the occupation since ages they inherit
this art from their ancestors, and tradition
of cashmere weaving continues from one generation
to another generation.
Our
ancestors have described cashmere as sensual
sublimity. It is they who perfected the
skill to retrieve cashmere up to 95% purity
and the skill as such got passed from generation
to generation as a heritage of Nepalese
craft.
The fine wool comes from the undercoat of
the Himalayan mountain goat, called Chyangra
(Capra Hircus) which lives in the high Himalayan
regions of Nepal and the most remote regions
of Tibetan Plateau. For over a thousand
years cashmere has been woven into shawls
and blankets, prized by royalty and common
people alike for its softness, warmth, and
long life.
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