Chillai Kalan is the coldest 40-day period of harsh winter of winter in the Jammu and Kashmir region.
It is traditionally defined as a seasonal period of harsh winter accompanied by a change in increase in both frequency and quantity of precipitation usually snow.
It begins from December 21 and ends on January 31 next year.
It is followed by a 20-day long Chillai-Khurd (small cold) that occurs between January 31 and February 19 and a 10-day long Chillai-Bachha (baby cold). According to Persian tradition, the night of 21st December is celebrated as Shab-e Yalda-“Night of Birth”, or Shab-e Chelleh “Night of Forty”.
In the Persian tradition, the night of December 21, the longest of the year, is celebrated as Shab-e-Yalda (night of birth) or Shab-e-Chelle.
Dozens of netizens from Kashmir named it the ‘Pheran Day’, after the long woollen gown worn during the winters in Kashmir.
Use of a traditional firing pot called Kangri increases.
Tap water pipelines partially freeze during this period. The Dal Lake also freezes.
The famous tourist resort of Gulmarg receives heavy snow which attracts skier’s from every part of the world.