Local and Foreign Tourists Enjoy Festival Activities in Valley Of Kalash
An important event to celebrate the winter Kalash festival on Sunday, Chawmoss, is a fun and a brilliant festival.
The last dance event was held in Jastkhan, in the village of Broon, Bamburet, in fine weather. Deputy Commissioner Chitral Naveed Ahmed, Wasim Raiz Regional Police, local and foreign tourists, and many people from Kalash.
The Chitral working group, tourist police, and provincial government staff provide security for local residents and visitors. Tourists from different countries come to the Kalash Valley to enjoy the unique culture, traditions and religious ceremonies and participate in many activities. It was the 15-day ceremony in the picturesque valley.
The Ministry of Tourism has also installed lighting systems and arranged transportation. Other facilities were also there so that local communities and tourists can properly celebrate the festival.
Activities at Chawmoss Festival
During the Chawmoss Festival that started on December 7. Kalash people organized a series of events, including a fireside match, Mandahek, Sharaberayak, Savilakehari, Sheshao, Gonsik, Jastak and Ghonachanjarat with devout enthusiasm celebrate the festival.
The festival begins with children’s Kalash fire competition, wearing colorful dresses and gowns. They collected twigs and pine branches and set them on fire to show their ability to burn fire and smoke in the Rambur, Bamburet and Birir Valley.
The purpose of the high fire and smoking is to welcome peace, prosperity, minerals, green grass. Also, love among indigenous tribal members in the coming winter and spring. When children are holding green leaves and branches, they will sing and dance and choir. Follow the festival of Sharaberayak and Mandahek. At the Sharaberayak Music Festival, Kalash people use wheat flour to make game animals, such as cows, symbols of the Sherlock and their ancestors, and then roast them on fire. Then place these beasts in the sun. Later, it was distributed to family members and supporters.
Mandahek was another festive tree-burning festival, and people watched for five minutes of silence. Then they celebrated Savilakehari. Men, women, and children in fresh and colorful clothes clash and sing together in one place. They danced together and praised each other.
Girls in Kalash wear children’s dresses, and boys wear girls’ clothes and dance in the choir. They expressed their feelings for each other and announced their marriage. The society also carried out the rituals of Sheshao and Gosnik.
Activities of Goosnik
In Goosnik, boys and girls aged 3 to 5 wore new clothes, holding lots of nuts, fruits and gifts in their hands, and were embroidered with homemade embroidered clothing. His uncle brought goats and sheep to their nephews and children.
During the Ghonachanjarat, women, and youth gathered to clash with rice twigs in the Rampur, Bamburet and Birrir valleys, and weave baskets with them. Later, women and girls from the three valleys met and danced in the choir to celebrate the Ghonachanjarat Festival. In the Kalash calendar, December 21 is the shortest last day of the year, and December 22 is the first day of the New Year. Everyone in Kalash, including men, women, and children, gathered in the village of Patrick in the Bamboret Valley for religious and cultural rituals at night.
They performed their religious rituals all night and waited until dawn on December 22 to celebrate the New Year. The winter festival of Kalash “Chawmoss ” is the biggest festival of the year. The festival begins at the beginning of winter in mid-December.
The purpose of celebrating the festival is to protect sacred relatives, living and dead, crops and goats while clearing society, people and valleys by next year. It is a good sign to see foxes, and great efforts are being made in this regard.
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