Chaumas Festival (December 7-22)

Tour Overview

Kalash is a majestic valley of a small group of people which lies on the flank of the eastern range of Hindu Kush, embodied with three narrow valleys of Bumburet, Rumbur, and Birir and located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. It is of the view that the people of Kalash are the last living representatives of the region of Kafiristan, which was a region extended across the mountain range of Hindu Kush from the eastern part of the Afghanistan. The number of kalash has decreased so much so that only around 4000 people are residing in the valleys. The Kalashas are polytheistic and according to a renowned linguist Richard strand, is of the view that the people of Kalash practice an ancient form of Hinduism which gradually developed locally and got influenced by the neighboring areas of pre Islamic Nuristan. The inhabitants of the Kalash valley celebrate a number of festivals all year round. The three predominant festivals are as follows

The most important Kalash festival is the Chawmos (cawmos, ghona chawmos yat, khowar “chitrimas” from caturmasya, CDIAL 4742), which is celebrated for two weeks at winter solstice (c. Dec. 7-22), at the beginning of the month chawmos mastruk. It marks the end of the year’s fieldwork and harvest. It involves much music, dancing, and the sacrifice of many goats. It is dedicated to the god Balimain who is believed to visit from the mythical homeland of the Kalash, Tsyam (Tsiyam, tsíam), for the duration of the feast. Food sacrifices are offered at the clans’ Jeshtak shrines, dedicated to the ancestors.