he Zool festival of Aishmuqam shrine of Baba Zain-ud-Din Wali is a procession of faith and light. Also known as the illumination or torch festival, the Zool is a centuries-old tradition held at the shrine in Anantnag district of southern Kashmir. At this shrine, located on a hillock overlooking the road to Pahalgam, the famous tourist destination in Kashmir, the annual fire procession symbolises the victory of light over darkness while commemorating the 15th-century Sufi saint Baba Zain-ud-Din Wali, a primary disciple of the renowned mystic Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Wali, also known as Nund Rishi. According to local legend, the saint meditated in a cave at Aishmuqam that was once infested with snakes or, in some versions, terrorised by a demon. His spiritual power eventually cleared the cave, and local people celebrated this “victory of good over evil” by lighting torches. The procession involves thousands of devotees carrying wooden torches, locally called mashals or phrov, crafted from ...