Annual celebrations: Kalasha observe a sombre winter festival

Festive mood of the two-week-long Chomos festival is missing as locals grieve for APS victims.

CHITRAL: The grief of the Army Public School massacre in Peshawar has also been felt in Chitral where the celebrations of the two-week-long Kalasha winter festival known as Chomos have remained subdued.

Although the first event of the festival called sarasari has already taken place, the traditional festive mood is largely missing. A cloud of gloom and sadness looms over the festival as locals grieve the loss of nearly 150 innocent lives.

People in Rambur village of Kalash Valley can be seen whispering and talking about the barbarism against Peshawar’s schoolchildren, while people in Bumburet village also seemed saddened by the incident.

On Saturday, the Kalasha observed the rite of Onjishta wherein young people keep themselves confined to a room for five days, following which boys and girls are baptised separately and the priest announces their purity from all kinds of sins.

Similarly, the initiation rite of Pech Injik was also performed under which boys of about seven years of age are inducted into the Kalasha society after they don the community’s traditional dress.

Moreover, sacrifices were offered to Kalasha god Maloosh of goats born during the time of Chomos last year. Special prayers were offered for peace and prosperity in the country and the well-being of the Kalasha people.

Luke Rehmat, a Kalasha youth, told The Express Tribune a torch bearing rally will be held on Saturday and Sunday evening. “Men and women singing their religious hymns will march up to the valley’s designated dancing ground as part of the festival’s celebrations.”

The singing and dancing will continue till the festival ends on December 22. Chomos is celebrated by the Kalasha to mark the end of the year’s fieldwork and harvest season.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2014.