Kalash Chilam Joshi Festival
Chilam Joshi is also known as Kalash spring festival. Chilam Joshi festival is held in three Kalash valleys, Bumburet, Birir, and Rumbur where Kalash girls and boys dance to the tune of traditional drum beats.
Chilam Joshi Festival is a Pakistani festival celebrated by the Kalash people, living in the Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The festival starts on 13 May to 16 May.
Chilam Joshi celebrations highlight their cultural richness, the plethora of colors and the underlying message of peace. The women dressed up in traditional clothes of vibrant colors, gold, silver jewelers and elaborate headgear. Men wear traditional shalwar kameez with a woolen waistcoat.
Chilam Joshi festival starts at Rumbur valley and then moves on to other valleys of Kalash. In this festival, Kalashi people pray for the safeguard of their fields and animals before going to their fields and for this purpose they used to spread milk on their Gods. The festival brought smiles on the unmarried Kalasha boys and girls faces who during the festival get an opportunity to choose their life partners. They announce their life partners name on the last day of the festival.Kalashi festivals are famous throughout the world. Three festivals are more important, celebrated in different months of the year. Chilam Joshi is the most important festival celebrated in May for four days. Uchal festival held in autumn season and Choimos festival in midwinters.
Kalash Valley tour is one of the biggest cultural retreats of Pakistan. This tour offers the opportunity to experience astonishing cultural diffusion in the Hindukush mountain range, it also helps in knowing about the Kalash minority community living in the Kalash Valley having a unique culture. In November 2018 UNESCO recognized the Kalash culture as ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’. This decision was made in Mauritius in the 13th session of UNESCO organized by the intergovernmental committee.
Kalash Valley is located in Chitral but this tour is known as the Kalash valley tour as Kalash is the main attraction in Chitral.
Kalash valley is exactly located in Chitral of province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. Kalash valley is at three hours drive from Chitral town and it is surrounded by the most beautiful and mesmerizing Hindukush mountain range. The Kalash people have a historical connection with Hinduism and they poses a distinctive culture, language, way of living, and tradition. Due to this unique culture, many international tourists visit this area every year. Kalash has three main valleys the valley of Bumburet, Rumbur, and Birir. The main attraction among this valley is the Bumburet valley this valley was once known as the Mumuret. This valley can be reached by road crossing Ayun situated in the Kunar Valley. To the North of Bumburet, the Rumbur and Acholgah are side valleys. And in the south of Bumburet Valley Biriu is the side valley of Kunar Valley.
Kalash’s population is about 5000 people making them the minority of Pakistan religiously and ethnically. Their culture and religion are opposed to the Pakistani culture and religion. They believe in polytheist faith and they give sacrifice to their Gods. Kalash culture is interconnected with their faith and based on various festivals and celebrations. The people of Kalash usually not intermarry or live together with the local Muslims and they neither dislike them. They come under the constitution of Pakistan and the Pakistani government provides them protection and security as a scheduled tribe.
Our tour through the Kalash valley begins in Islamabad. At the Islamabad international airport, your guide will welcome you and move you to the Hotel for a rest. We will meet again over dinner in the afternoon and there will be a briefing on your trip to the Kalash valley. The next morning we will take an hour flight to Chitral through the mesmerizing mountainous view. This flight usually depends on the weather in case of bad weather conditions or cancellations of flights we will drive to Chitral by road resting a day in the Chitral Valley we will head towards the beautiful Kalash Valley to explore the region. We will also enjoy the PAGANS festival and explore the Kalash valley for few days. After this unforgettable exploration and experience, we will head back towards Islamabad.
We firmly agree that this trip to Kalash is the richest and eye-opening experience in the world. Chitral is a region of exceptional natural beauty and it provides the opportunity to know about the culture and heritage as well as experience trekking and climbing in the region. The Kalash minority community and the multi-languages like semi-nomadic Wakhi spoken in the region attracts thousands of tourists in the region.
The region of Kalash was once known as Kafiristan and until 1896 the present-day Nuristan in Afghanistan was known as red kafirs and the Kalash people were known as black kafirs. These inhabitants had connections due to the border connecting the region of Kalash with Afghanistan. The Areas connecting Kalash with Afghanistan are the Birir, Rumbur, and Bumburet located in Hindukush between the Afghan border and Chitral Valley.
One theory suggests that the origin and history of the Kalash people are linked with the occupying army of Alexander the great it is believed that the Kalash people are descendants of one shalak Shaw. Another study suggests that the Kalash as a nation in the Tibetan Belt that originated from Tsiyane. In the early Christian period, they migrated to Afghanistan. In the 10th Century, Mahmood of Ghazni thrust them into the narrow Hindu Kush valley. The Kalash people were powerful overall in the southern Chitral until the second half of the 14th century. But after this period the rais family of Chitral took over the power. This occurred at the end of the 14th Century.
The God of Kalash valley people is known as “Deziao”.But their religious believes are a combination of animism and worship of descendants. There is also the concept of Dewalok it is the concept of male and female holy spirits. These male and females are responsible to perform various activities and who are expected to pass on prayers to Deziao. There is a concept of pure and impure opposition in the Kalash region. The name for pure is ‘Onjesta’ and the name for impure is Pragata. The females during giving birth and menstrual period are considered as impure and these women are kept in separate places and the place where these women are kept is named ‘Bashali’. One of the most amazing festivals of the Kalash valley is the colorful dance celebration celebrated by the minority every year and this is a rare opportunity grabbed by the tourists since this festival is celebrated in the scheduled time period in the region. There are four major celebrations in the Kalash valley, spring, summer, autumn, and the winter festival. Each festival has a reason to celebrate the spring festival to defend the shepherds when they are sent out of the pastures, the summer festival is celebrated in August for harvesting, and the autumn festival in October to harvest the grapes and walnuts and the winter festival is celebrated in December to welcome New Year and cleanliness in the village.
Islamabad and Back to Islamabad
Timea –
I had a two weeks tour with Tour De Rakaposhi and I’ve been treated like a queen! I had such a beautiful time with these people and they looked after me like you wouldn’t believe! It was very important to me as I’m a woman traveling solo by myself. They had great programs, great prices and I had the privilege to meet the CEO; Syed Azfar Hussain who were a very fine gentleman and who looked after absolutely everything I needed. Beautiful country, beautiful culture, beautiful people, beautiful tour programs – and I had an unforgettable experience there!
Timea M, Austria