One of the main worries of travellers is to be able to find authentic places, still untouched by tourism, where you can feel a bit like Marco Polo, little explorers who are not content with just seeing but who aspire to discover and to tell.
In the remote and picturesque northwest of Pakistan, among the imposing mountain ranges of the Hindu Kush, lives a unique community in the world: the Kalash, who live confined in the Kalash Valley, near the border with Afghanistan.
Known as the last pagan tribe of the Indian subcontinent, the Kalash have kept their traditions, culture and religion alive for millennia, resisting external influences and preserving an authentic and fascinating way of life.
This article will take you on a discovery of this ancient population, revealing the secrets of an extraordinary journey, ideal for those who want to explore the roots of a culture that seems to belong to another time.
Who are the Kalash?
The Kalash are a small community of about 3,000 people who live in the three valleys of Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir, in the Chitral region, bordering Afghanistan. They are distinguished by their animist religion, their colorful clothing and their unique traditions, which make them one of the most unique and mysterious communities in the world.
People of Mysterious Origins
But let's take a step back and start from the dawn that would justify, according to some studies, the somatic features of the Kafirs, in particular the Kalash, who often have light skin and blue eyes.
The origins of the Kalash are shrouded in mystery and legend.
The ancient Kafiristan represents in fact the intoxication, the love, the poetry and all the pagan feelings that we have inherited from the civilization of the god Pan. Legend has it that the Greek god Dionysus, during his journey to the Indies accompanied by a procession of festive bacchantes and silent ones (spirits of the woods and wild nature imagined in human form and with horse ears, tail and legs), laid the foundations of a settlement.
One of the most fascinating theories is that the Kalash are descendants of Alexander the Great and his troops, who, after conquering Persia, reached the area of the Hindu Kush and here the conqueror was wounded in the shoulder.
It was the first time that someone had managed to hit him and Alexander recognized in his opponents tenacious fighters, so he decided to take Roxane, a local girl, as his wife, inviting his soldiers to follow his example.
Another hypothesis is that the Kalash are one of the indigenous populations of the Hindu Kush, present in these valleys for millennia. It is not easy to believe in the preservation through the centuries, in a jealous isolation, of a foreign nucleus formed originally only of men.
On the other hand, except for the generally polytheistic character and the animal sacrifices, there is nothing in Kalash mythology that recalls the Greek one, no name that sounds even remotely similar to those of the gods of Olympus.
As for the artistic tradition, the contact between the Greek and Asian worlds has left a very valid and well-known testimony in the so-called Art of Gandhara. In the sculptures coming from Taxila, from Moenjo Darò, and from all the other Gandhara centers in Pakistan and India, the Greek influence jumps to the eye with surprising immediacy: sinuous draperies, delicate faces on which a smile hovers, youthful forms, proportions full of harmony.
None of this is found in the art of the Kalash, which is equally rich and fascinating, but with completely different characteristics, tending instead towards hard and angular lines, abstract geometries, and the reduction to elementary schemes.
It is not easy, therefore, to accept the hypothesis of the Greek origin of the Kalash. Much more convincing, and no less suggestive, is the hypothesis that it is a surviving example of the native population, the Aryans. Those same Aryans, or Aryans, bearers of the Vedic religion, who migrated thousands of years ago from the mountains of central Asia and descended to the plains of the Indian subcontinent, and mixing with the pre-existing Dravidian peoples gave rise to the current populations of India.
The Dravidians were small and dark; the Aryans were tall, strong, and light-skinned. These are the two ethnic extremes still evident today in India when comparing the Tamils of the south with the Pungiabi of the north.
Geographically, the cradle of the Aryan peoples seems to have been right here, in the eastern part of the Iranian plateau; the hypothesis, therefore, is credible.
Whatever the truth, what is certain is that the Kalash represent a unique cultural heritage, which is worth exploring and preserving.
Continuing with history, the tenacity and combativeness of the inhabitants of the Hindu Kush seems to have been such that they even resisted the Arab armies that in the 7th century brought Islam to Afghanistan and Northern India, relegating their roles to the rich cities of the plains.
In the 14th century, the Central Asian conqueror Tamerlane managed to subjugate the entire population residing in the territory for a short period, without however converting them to Islam.
The Kafirs, as they were defined by the Muslims because they were considered infidels (hence the name Kafiristan to define the region) continued to offer sacrifices to the gods, drink wine and dance together (men and women), fuelling the discontent of their neighbours with their immoral behaviour.
The Kafirs lived isolated in a state of relative tranquility until the end of the 19th century, soon after the demarcation of the frontier with Afghanistan (Durand Line) when three Afghan federal units sent by the government of Abdur Rahman Khan surprised them with rifles forcing them to choose between Islam and death.
Once the whole area was pagan and around the middle of the last century there were about 100,000 Kafirs but today, with the exception of the three thousand Kalash who live in the valley and were saved thanks to the natural barrier of the mountains against the invaders, they have all converted to Islam.
Culture and Traditions of Kalash
Kalash culture is deeply connected to nature and the seasons. Their animist religion is reflected in a series of rituals, festivals and daily practices that celebrate the forces of nature and ancestors.
1. Traditional Festivals
The Kalash are known for their colorful and lively festivals, which mark key moments in the agricultural year. Among the most important are:
Chilam Joshi: Celebrated in spring, it is a festival that welcomes the new season and celebrates fertility. During Chilam Joshi, the Kalash wear their traditional clothes, decorated with colorful beads and embroidery, and dance to the beat of drums, offering milk and wine to the gods to ensure good harvests and prosperity.
Uchau: This autumn festival celebrates the harvest and thanks the gods for the fruits of the earth. During Uchau, the valleys resonate with music and song as people gather to celebrate with food, wine and dance.
Choimus: It is the winter festival, the most sacred and important, during which the Kalash offer sacrifices to the gods to protect the community during the winter. The celebrations last several days and culminate with the great feast that welcomes the new year. The sacred jestak-han at the same time is a temple, a slaughterhouse and a town hall. It is the seat of Jestak, a Goddess who does not disdain offerings of goats during the Chaumos, the Kalash ceremony celebrated on the occasion of the winter solstice.
The ceremonial calendar of the Chaumos is well defined. On the first day, fires are lit everywhere with juniper wood, old used baskets are burned and processions of young men form who “trot” and neigh, to attract the god, who always appears on horseback. From the beginning, obscenity explodes, with all its vital and, the Kalash say, even medicinal charge: “The more obscene our words and the more heartfelt our prayers, the more we will gain in health and fortune”.
On the second day, the women wash their hair and renew their kupas, the splendid caps adorned with shells and colored beads. Bread is baked in the stable. The third is the day reserved for insults, truly terrible, between the girls of the different villages. It is a war of words that lasts until night, witnessed by the young men, ready to appreciate the imagination of this or that.
Then comes the day of cooking the beans, the day of wrapping small goats with bread crumbs and the repainting of the friezes that adorn the jestak-han. This is followed by the day of the return of the dead (to whom food must be offered) which closes the first phase of the festival.
Then seven days of abstinence, ablutions and purifications begin for everyone, men, women and children, during which any stranger must leave the Kalash valleys. Finally, comes the day of the great sacrifice: dozens of goats are ritually slaughtered in front of the mahandeo, the altar of the “great god”, from whose stones stand out four horse heads, carved in wood.
It is at this point that among the young people one can observe the “tremors”, interpreted as signs of possession that reveals shamanic attitudes. The farewell to Balumain will be celebrated by a procession of women, each with a peacock feather on their kupas. According to ancient Vedic thought, the peacock is the animal of immortality: in addition to being very prolific, the bird renews every year the splendor of its changing “eyes” on the cosmic wheel of its magnificent tail.
Also noteworthy is the fact that the Kalash, whose economy is based on subsistence agriculture, organize festivals known as Biramor during which a member of the community donates all his possessions to the villagers. Well, with Biramor a redistribution of wealth is allowed and the donor will receive a return in terms of honor and once deceased he will continue to live in the memory of those who remain.
2. Clothing and Crafts
Kalash women are known for their traditional dresses called kameez, long black dresses decorated with colorful embroidery and worn with beaded headdresses (decorated with shells, buttons and bells) known as shushut that convey joy. These dresses not only express the cultural identity of the Kalash but are also a sign of social status. Kalash handicrafts also include a variety of handcrafted items, such as beaded jewelry, woven baskets, and musical instruments, which tell ancient stories and myths.
3. Religion and Spirituality
The Kalash religion is one of their most distinguishing features. Unlike the surrounding, predominantly Muslim population, the Kalash practice an ancient form of animism, believing in a multiplicity of gods and spirits that govern the natural world.
Their pantheon includes deities related to the natural elements, animals, and ancestors, and every member of the community actively participates in religious rituals and ceremonies.
The Kalash, who are the last remaining Kafirs, practice a shamanic and polytheistic religion and believe that life is governed by opposing principles: the right hand and the left hand, man and woman, the high mountain and the valley floor, even and odd numbers, life and death.
In addition to the deities and other supernatural spirits with divine powers, there are the spirits of the ancestors who protect the descendants and ensure that traditions are respected.
In Kalash belief, hell does not exist and they try to live in serenity by resolving any disputes in a civil manner in order to die in peace and rest in the "golden house" located on top of a high mountain. To ensure harmony between men and act as intermediaries with nature there were once shamans.
It is interesting to tell you how one becomes a shaman in Kalash society. The lucky chosen ones must spend a few months on the mountain tops where the ibex live, feeding only on bread and water.
When the female ibex gives birth, the aspiring shaman must drink her milk and then go back down to the valley to test his powers based on the belief that fairies live in the high mountains and spending a period of time among them instills supernatural powers.
The Kalash world is a vertical universe where the male sex and the heights (mountains) are considered pure while the female sex and the lowlands (valleys) are considered impure. According to this principle, men sit on the right side of the house and women on the left, men graze goats and women sow the fields, men go to the mountains while women stay in the valleys. But there is more!
Mahadeo is often spoken of as the highest deity. His attribute is white horses, and in fact four horse heads are always found on the altar of Mahadeo, a dazzling quadriga. But the name Mahadeo itself is not a proper name; it is a name of Vedic origin also used in Indian mythology with the generic meaning of "the great god".
The male temple of Mahandeo, which overlooks the village: an altar, a series of carved planks and three masks overlook a small fire. It is an altar made of set stones, bristling with dry holly branches, stained by previous sacrifices.
Two small horse heads confirm the sacred nature of the place, delimited by a row of poles on which are carved flourishes, spirals, and designs with an apparently solar theme but whose meaning has been erased from memory.
The place is forbidden to women. The impurity that menstruation makes inherent to the female condition prohibits access to sanctuaries and to everything that is related to worship. It is for the same reason that, from puberty, women spend five days a month, and twenty-one days after each birth, in the ashali (or bashali), a house where they live isolated and untouchable.
During menstruation and at the end of pregnancy, just before giving birth, women leave their homes and confine themselves in the Bashali, a building reserved for the female sex that is by definition subject to every type of impurity that can only be eliminated by burning juniper berries in homes and during ceremonies. Needless to say, hereditary transmission also occurs through the male line.
In some ways the Kalash are extremely strict as for theft, punishable by expulsion of the offender from the community, and conversion to Islam from which there is no going back.
They speak an indigenous language, exclusively oral – belonging to the subgroup of Indo-Aryan languages with the presence of terms that resemble Sanskrit.
Ghosts in the Forest
Shekanandè, Batrik, Krakal - each of these villages has something special. Each one presents some new somatic feature. In Shekanandè there are houses with beautiful carved wooden decorations; in Krakal there is a cemetery in the woods with numerous Gandau, wooden statues with the figures of the dead, in life size; near Batrik there is a Malash, a solitary clearing in the woods where the altar of Mahadeo stands; in Brum, the altar of Mahadeo is high up, on a rock overlooking the village.
The Kalash do not bury their dead, but lay them in massive wooden coffins that remain above ground, in the open air; these cemeteries are generally found in holly woods. The same coffin serves several times for the family.
Often the lids, fixed in a haphazard manner, break with time and the elements, open, and the coffins reveal their contents to the eye. Serenely, however, with innocence, since in general they are dried up or mummified bodies, or already reduced to skeletons and skulls: dry, clean dead, that can be looked at without horror, just as the blackbirds and other little birds that hop in and out of the coffins, looking for berries among the dry leaves, do not feel horror.
Among the coffins, behind the trees, as if silently emerging from the forest, the arcane eyes of the Gandau, the statues of the dead.
Why Visit the Kalash?
Visiting the Kalash Valleys is an off-the-beaten-path travel experience that offers the opportunity to immerse yourself in an ancient and rare culture, to see up close the traditions that stand the test of time and to understand the beauty of human diversity.
The Kalash Valley is one of those places that are hard to reach and hard to leave, where time seems to have frozen and the rhythm of daily life is not dictated by the frenzy of modern society but by the changing seasons. In the Kalash Valley there is little or nothing, but that little or nothing is so beautiful that it seems unreal.
Well, in the middle of these hills you can see thin green streaks: Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir, the three valleys that make up the Kalash Valley – twenty villages in all – where the Kalash live and when you arrive they welcome you with a smile and a cheerful Isphata of welcome, the local greeting.
1. Authentic Experience
Unlike many other tourist destinations, Kalash villages offer an authentic experience, far from mass tourism. Visitors can interact directly with the community, participate in their celebrations and learn about their centuries-old traditions. This type of travel requires respect and sensitivity towards a culture that, despite its hospitality, is fragile and threatened by change.
2. Suggestive Landscapes
The Kalash valleys are not only culturally interesting but also incredibly beautiful. The Hindu Kush mountains offer breathtaking views, with green valleys, crystal-clear rivers and pristine forests. For nature lovers and hikers, these valleys are a paradise to explore on foot, immersed in a wild and untouched environment.
3. Cultural Conservation
The Giastakan is the village temple. It is a wooden building with only one floor, like most houses, a little wider inside, with the ceiling supported by a row of wooden columns all carved with geometric figures. In the center of the room, a stone fireplace which corresponds to a large square opening in the ceiling.
Temple is a loose designation for the Giastakan, which is not actually the site for the actual religious rite, the animal sacrifice, but is intended for several other ritual functions, including hosting dances in the winter, when the weather is bad and one cannot be outdoors. However, it is the Giastakan that serves as a guesthouse.
Traveling to the Kalash Valleys is not only an opportunity to discover a unique culture, but also to support its preservation. The Kalash are an ethnic minority struggling to maintain their traditions in a rapidly changing world. Responsible tourism can help preserve their way of life, providing economic resources and international visibility.
Towards the end of autumn, the elders observe the sun setting on the mountain every day, the last part that illuminates with its light before disappearing. In the evening when the rays of the star reach a reference tree, its winter home, up there on the hill, they warn inhabitants of the Rumbur valley, that the feast is approaching.
All the Kalash then begin to count the days. Each day has a name, linked to the purification rites to be carried out before the coming of the god Balumain, who arrives in the longest night and leaves again when the day grows again and the light prevails over the darkness».
The prayers and offerings made on this occasion mark the end of the old year. These ceremonies somehow drive it away, with all its impurities, and facilitate with them the coming, at the time of the winter solstice, of he who spreads fertility and abundance under the hooves of his horse, the god Balumain.
Kalash also believe in a creator god, Khodai, god of the sky, who can only be reached through the mediation of the messenger gods. Only they are the object of worship, offerings and sacrifices, because their concerns, their tasks bring them closer to our daily cares as farmers and herders, aware that their survival depends on good relations with the forces of nature.
The gods express themselves, on occasion, with the voice of the déhar, a man endowed with the power to interpret, in a trance, their word and their will. The revelations of the déhar during the sacrifices have directed the history of my people. They have forged, consolidated and defined the law of custom.
The most famous of them is Naga Dehar, who one day met Balumain on his horse (an animal that later became the symbol of divinity), and it is to him that the god dictated his wishes for the organization of his annual coming.
"The god loves the light," and so on the day of the first offerings, at the beginning of December, large braziers are lit, after nightfall, on the threshing floors where people dance. And from every barn come reserves of fruit, dried white blackberries, jujubes, walnuts, which are shared.
Immediately the celebration begins with prodigality to ward off the anguish of the uselessness of winter. It is a way of announcing that one has confidence in the gods so that they may favor the resurrection of nature. Men dance, letting out enormous bursts of laughter, swaying imitating the movements of a knight, in honor of the god and his steed."
It always happens that, for two weeks, men and women inveigh against each other, mock each other forcefully and with gestures, simulations and unequivocal dances. "In seven days the time of amorous abstinence arrives - the women sing.
The next day, the young girls and adolescents, from the two sides of the valley, the one upstream and the one downstream, pretend to quarrel while singing and dancing. Some on the left bank, others on the right bank of the stream, from sunrise to sunset, compete over the waters for the glory of the heaviest joke, the most malicious allusion or the one richest in innuendo.
And the day after, the girls will boil beans for everyone in the immense pots. This too is part of the rituals: the simulation of hostility must be compensated by generosity, in order to establish a balance in their relationships.
Another important rite is that of the ancestors' banquet , otherwise known as the "offerings to the spirits of the dead". Everyone brings what is most delicate; what is dearest to them to give: the seasoned pears, the best blackberries, the grapes, the rare pomegranates, the much-prized pumpkins, the indispensable tasty cheese.
Everything is placed in a basket in front of the house of ceremonies. Once their agreement has been obtained, everything falls into a state of lethargy. The souls of the dead have left.
Finally comes the day of great cleansing. Clothes are washed. The smallest stain is erased. The houses themselves are completely cleared, sprayed from floor to ceiling, watered and purified with juniper fire. This rite precedes the ditch , a period of sexual abstinence. As it approaches, imaginations are inflamed.
The women and the adolescents are the first to perform their purification rite. To welcome the god, the shepherds have chosen their most beautiful goats and decorated their horns with juniper leaves. They lead them in procession up the valley, to the most sacred sanctuary. The men of the village take their places in front of the massive altar (the very one we visited at sunset).
Some masters of ceremony, chosen for their knowledge of the tradition, dressed in long robes with golden patterns, chant the song of Balumain, whose words must not be spoken for the rest of the year. The women, in large woolen shawls superbly embroidered, with peacock feathers quilted on their caps, await the exit of the last man from the village. They will remain there all morning, dancing, evoking with their movements the sexual act without approaching the altar which is taboo.
Many children, having reached the age of seven, are initiated during the year, that is, promoted from the state of child to that of shepherd. This authorizes them to dress like adults: wide wool trousers, leg bands, a white shirt on which two rows of pearls stand out crossed like cartridge belts and, above all, the white turban. This last one, a symbol of passage, makes their entry into the adult world material. They will find it again on their last journey, on their deathbed.
The day after the propitiatory massacre, the faithful return to the sanctuary to throw as many willow branches on the altar as the men in the valley have. It is a way of telling the god Balumain, before his departure in the evening, that everyone, without exception, is devoted to him. As the day passes, the frenzy of youth increases. The lifting of the sexual interdiction is scheduled for the day when the meat is exhausted, when there will be nothing left but to cook the heads and feet of the animals.
The time of the chaumo (chowmas) at the winter solstice marks the end of the night of the White Crow, the bird charged by the gods to carry the wishes of the community to the sky. Waiting for these wishes to be fulfilled, the Kalash prepare to spend the winter until the next great festival, the jyoshi, in the spring.
The Kalash hate the bad season, the cold and especially the snow that covers their country because, they believe, of the foolishness of a woman. The first time it snowed in the world, legend has it, it was not real snow that fell from the sky, but white cheese. Everyone took advantage of this manna thinking that it was more or less a miraculous and unique gift.
Therefore the following year, fresh cheese fell again. But a woman who was looking for something suitable to dry her child, took a layer of cheese and used it for her need. Overwhelmed by such ease, the Gods transformed the cheese into snow. Since then, every year, with it come the cold and bad weather.
How to Plan the Perfect Trip
The Kalash Valley is part of an ancient region called Kafiristan, present-day Nuristan in Afghan territory and is located in the Chitral province.
Traveling to the Kalash Valleys requires some preparation, especially since it is a remote region with limited infrastructure. Here are some practical tips to help you plan your trip:
1. When to Go
The best time to visit the Kalash is during their major festivals, in spring, summer or autumn, when the community is most active and celebrations are in full swing. However, if you prefer a quieter experience, consider visiting off-season, when the valleys are less crowded.
2. How to get there
The Kalash valleys can be reached from Chitral, the nearest town. From there, you can hire a vehicle or taxi to reach the valleys, a journey that takes about 2-3 hours along often challenging mountain roads. It is advisable to travel with a local guide who knows the area well and can facilitate interaction with the community.
3. Where to Stay
In the valleys of Bumburet, Rumbur and Birir, there are some simple but cozy accommodation facilities, often managed by the local community. These accommodations offer a unique opportunity to experience the daily life of the Kalash up close and contribute directly to their economy.
4. What to Bring
Given the remote nature of the region, it is important to travel with all the necessary supplies. Bring clothing suitable for the variable weather conditions, comfortable walking shoes, and a supply of essential medicines. Also, always respect local cultural norms: dress conservatively and ask permission before taking photographs of people or during rituals.
As if a lucumonia of Etruscans had magically remained alive among us, here in the mountains of Hindu Kush a small community of the ancient Aryans has been preserved.
