Photos: Kashmir’s 600-year-old Wazwan wedding feast adapts to modern life

In PicturesSaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkDishes are served on a trami, a traditional copper platter, during a Kashmiri Wazwan wedding feast in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir [File: Sharafat Ali/Reuters]By ReutersPublished On 30 Sep 202630 Sep 2026As autumn approaches, the rhythmic thud of wooden mallets pounding lamb echoes across courtyards and back lanes in Kashmir, where cooks prepare Wazwan – a lavish, multi-course mutton feast that remains central to traditional wedding celebrations.Wazwan arrived in the valley from Central Asia in the 14th century, when rulers brought skilled chefs along with the carpet and shawl weavers that later defined the region’s craft heritage.Today, the feast is both a marker of social status and a powerful symbol of Kashmiri identity.Among its guardians is 74-year-old Ghulam Nabi Baba, a veteran Wazwan chef who traces his lineage to those early migrants. His forefathers settled in Srinagar’s old city as part of a community of cooks known as Wazpora.“There were only seven mutton dishes at that time. Over the centuries we added more, and now there are around 20,” Baba said.He explained how the number of dishes and the amount of meat often reflect a family’s wealth.“Forty years ago in Delina [a village in north Kashmir] I cooked 4,500kg (9,920 pounds) of meat. That was a very big wedding. Normally, at an average marriage we cook 200kg (440 pounds),” he added.Despite the expanding menu, the core techniques have changed little. Lightly spiced meat is still pounded by hand before being simmered slowly over wood fires – a labour-intensive process Baba has followed since joining his father as a cook at 15.But the pressures of modern life are reshaping the tradition. Baba’s son has chosen to open a restaurant rather than work weddings, saying the round-the-clock demands are too exhausting.He believes he is still carrying forward the family’s centuries-old culinary legacy – just in a different setting, as Wazwan adapts to contemporary tastes and lifestyles.A Kashmiri waza, or traditional chef, serves dishes from a Wazwan wedding feast in Srinagar. [File: Sharafat Ali/Reuters]Classic Wazwan dishes include rista (meatballs in red gravy), gushtaba (yoghurt-based meat dish), rogan josh, tabak maaz (fried ribs) and kabab. [File: Sharafat Ali/Reuters]Kashmiri wazas, or traditional chefs, pound meat with wooden mallets on stone slabs to prepare gushtaba and rista for a traditional Wazwan wedding feast. [File Sharafat Ali/Reuters]A Kashmiri waza, or chef, prepares Wazwan dishes in degchis, traditional heavy-bottomed copper cooking pots, over a wood fire during a wedding. [File: Sharafat Ali/Reuters]Rogan josh, a slow-cooked lamb curry and signature dish of the traditional Kashmiri Wazwan feast, simmers in a degchi, a traditional heavy-bottomed cooking pot, over a wood fire during wedding preparations. [File: Sharafat Ali/Reuters]Degchis - traditional heavy-bottomed copper cooking pots - hold multiple dishes from the multicourse Kashmiri Wazwan wedding feast in Srinagar. [File: Sharafat Ali/Reuters]Kashmiri bride Jennifa Sufi poses in traditional bridal attire and jewellery at her wedding in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir. [File: Sharafat Ali/Reuters]Rista, a traditional Kashmiri Wazwan meatball dish, is prepared over a wood fire, with meat pounded by hand and slow-cooked to give the feast its distinct texture and smoky flavour. [File: Sharafat Ali/Reuters]A Kashmiri waza, or traditional chef, serves gushtaba - the final dish of a Wazwan feast, signalling the end of the meal - to guests at a wedding. [File: Sharafat Ali/Reuters]Workers unload supplies from a van outside a restaurant serving Wazwan in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir. In recent years, some younger chefs have moved from wedding catering into restaurant work, adapting Wazwan to modern dining while preserving its centuries-old culinary legacy. [File: Sharafat Ali/Reuters]Diners eat Wazwan, a traditional Kashmiri feast, at a restaurant in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir. [File: Sharafat Ali/Reuters]