Uchal festival of Kalash community concludes

CHITRAL: The three-day Uchal festival of the Kalash community on Friday concluded with much fanfare amid festivities.

The Kalash tribes in Bamburate and Rumbur and Birir valleys celebrated the festival by dancing and singing. They also performed other rituals, including paying homage to the deities by putting some pieces of cheese and a few grains of wheat at their altar.

According to the locals, the festival was held in the third week of August when the villagers in the high pastures of the valley descended to the lower altitudes with goats and their milk products.

They said Uchal was a thanksgiving ceremony in which homage was paid to the deities for the safe return of cattle from the higher pastures to the lower ones and the production of wheat, grapes and walnuts in the valley. The festival starts from the adjoining Rumbur valley, and the major event takes place in Bamburat on the second day.

The Kalash Valleys Development Authority had made arrangements for the holding of the festival.Director General of the authority, Minhas Uddin, oversaw the arrangements.A good number of foreign and local tourists visited the Kalash valley to enjoy the festival during the three days.