Mekhal (also knows as Upanayana or Yagnopavit) is a Kashmiri Hindu rite of passage that marks a child's entrance into formal education and acceptance by a teacher. It is considered a sacred thread ceremony that involves the wearing of a yagyopavita or janeu across the chest.

 

A uniquely Kashmiri and an essential preliminary ceremony performed a day or two prior to upanayana is Divagon. The ceremony is performed for invoking the presence of gods, especially Ganesha and the Sapta Matrikas or seven mother goddesses, to bless the initiate or the boy or girl to be married. It begins with a ritual bath, called kani-shran, which is given to the initiate by five unmarried girls, pancha kanya, four holding a thin muslin cloth over his head at its four ends and the fifth pouring consecrated water with a pitcher. 

 

A havan is performed on the occasion amidst chanting of mantras by the presiding priest with the initiate offering oblations while facing the east. At about the same time khir is prepared and poured into seven earthen plates called divta tabuchi or ‘the plates of the gods’. Roth of rice flour and monga varya or fried cakes of ground moong are placed over the khir. The plates are consecrated with mantras and offered to the seven matrikas after which the khir with the moong cakes are distributed as naivedya. At the end of the ceremony, ladies take the seven earthen plates in a procession to river for visarjana. They go singing hymns and folksongs in the praise of the goddesses and praying for the long life and happiness for the initiate.