CHITRAL: The Kalash winter festival of Chitramas – also named Chawmoss – commenced in the Rumbur valley here on Sunday, while it will start two days later in the Bumburet and Birir valleys.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA) has taken a number of initiatives to facilitate the Kalash people to celebrate their two-week-long festival peacefully as well as to enable the tourists to come to the Kalash valleys without any hassle.

Sources said that as per directives of KPCTA director general Tashfeen Haider, tourism facilitation centres have been established in Chitral city and Upper Dir to provide visitors with all kinds of information and facilities.

The tourism police personnel have also been deployed in the valley to ensure the convenience of tourists.

Additionally, enforcement inspectors from the tourism services wing have been assigned duties to regularly inspect various hotels and guesthouses in the valley during the festival, ensuring top-notch services for visitors.

The Chitramas festival is observed as a celebration of the New Year, which includes rituals like fox chasing for predictions and festivities for the coming year, while one of the key rituals is Chhooi Nari in which young boys and girls climb steep sacred slopes, light fires and engage in a competition to create smoke plumes.

Other important rituals of the Chawmoss festival include Mandahik and Sharaberak. In the Sharaberak ritual, the Kalash people make various figures such as a markhor, shepherds, cows, ancestral symbols and other items, using flour.

These are baked in a fire and after preparation they are distributed among neighbours as gifts, symbolising prosperity, celebration and the significance of the festival.

During the course of this ritual, the Kalash people sing traditional songs to express their joy.

In the Mandahik ritual, members of the Kalash tribe light pinewood torches and observe five minutes of silence in memory of their deceased loved ones.

The unique Chawmoss festival of the Kalash tribe will conclude on December 22.

Every year, thousands of local and international tourists visit the Kalash valleys to witness and enjoy this vibrant festival.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2024