Chilimjusht festival begins today

CHITRAL: The four-day Chilimjusht festival will get underway in the three Kalash valleys of Bamburet, Birir and Rumbur today (Saturday).

A large number of tourists, including foreigners from all over the world, expected to attend the annual festival comprises traditional events.

The Chilimjusht festival will start with ‘milkday’ in which Kalash people offer libations of milk that had been saved for 10 days prior to the occasion. The celebrations will highlight their cultural richness, plethora of colours and the underlying message of happiness.

During the festival, the Kalash people pray for the safety of their herds and crops of the community. Women usually dress up in traditional clothes of vibrant colours, gold and silver jewelry, and elaborate headgear, while men wear traditional shalwar kameez with a woolen waistcoat. The Kalash women and men dance and sing in a circle to the rhythmical chant of drum beats.

Kalash festivals are famous throughout the world and celebrated in different months of the year.

The Chilimjusht festival starts at Rumbur valley and then festivities extend to other valleys of Kalash.

The KP tourism authority has planned to reopen the PTDC hotels for the attraction and facilitation of tourists, while ensuring security measures for the festival, including the deployment of tourism police for assistance and the safety of visitors.

The hotels in Chitral had been booked and the owners said they expected a huge number of guests.

“Our hotel has already been booked a month back,” said the owner of a hotel in Oyone.