Chawmoss Festival kicks off in Kalash valleys

CHITRAL: The annual winter festival - Chawmoss - of the indigenous Kalash tribe commenced in the picturesque Kalash valleys of Bamburet, Rambur and Birir in the Lower Chitral district.

Following the directives of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA) Director General Tashfeen Haider, tourists would be provided all possible assistance

and facilities at the tourism facilitation centres located in Chitral City and Upper Dir.

Tourism Police personnel have already been deployed in the Kalash valleys of Bamburet, Rambur and Birir to ensure the convenience of visitors along with enforcement inspectors from the Tourist Services Wing.

These inspectors would regularly visit hotels and guesthouses during the festival to ensure best facilities for the tourists.

The 15-day festival being celebrated in all the three Kalash valleys marks a festive atmosphere filled with joy. The Chawmoss festival celebrates the New Year with unique traditions such as predicting the year’s fortunes by chasing foxes.

One of the prominent rituals is “Chui Nari”, in which boys and girls ascend a sacred slope, light fires, and then compete by raising smoke plumes. The group whose smoke rises higher is declared the winner.

Other important rituals include “Mandahek” and “Shara Bairak”.

In the Shara Bairak festival, the Kalash people make toy animals like cows, markhor and symbols of their ancestors from the flour and baked them in the fire. These toy animals are then placed in the sun. Later, they are distributed

among the relatives and well-wishers.

Similarly, Mandahek is another festival during which pine tree branches and pinewood are set on fire and people observe five minute silence. The festival is celebrated for the divine, the living and dead relatives, crops and the goats to be safeguarded, while the community, the village and the valley are purified prior to the coming year. Sighting a fox is a good omen and

great efforts are made in this regard.

Young Kalash girls wear boys’ dresses and boys clad themselves in girls clothes and dance in chorus. They express their feelings for each other and announce their marriage.

The unique Chawmoss festival would conclude on December 22. Every year, hundreds of thousands of local and international tourists visit the Kalash

valleys to witness and

enjoy this remarkable celebration.