Gul Hamad Farooqi Chitral
Kilash tribe’s annual religious festival, Chelam Josh, also known as Joshi in local language, ended in Bomburit Valley with all its colors and festivities, but the festival continues in Kailash Valley of Brier. In this festival, Kalash men beating drums while Kalash women perform folk dance by connecting shoulder to shoulder in a circle singing religious songs. Religious leaders of Kalash community Qazi also singing religious songs and praying.
Their families decorate their Caps with notes of one hundred, five hundred and thousand rupees. It is considered as a sign of respect and dignity for them. By afternoon, Kalash women and children from different villages gather in groups they dancing and singing songs on the beat of drum (dholak).
In After noon, Kailash people hold walnut branches and leaves in their hands and wave them. They move slowly towards the main dance place calling Chirsu, during which Muslims or people of other religions are not allowed to join this procession. When these people reach Charsu, they dance there with great enthusiasm
After that, the religious leaders of Kailash i.e. Qazis pour milk into the wheat crop, which is done for blessing, while the men go away from the chasso and hold walnut twigs, leaves or flowers in their hands and pray loudly in their own language. They slowly come towards the dance floor while singing religious songs. But a person belonging to any other religion is not allowed to come in front of them. In Charsu women also hold twigs and leaves in their hands and wave them and sing songs and wait for men.
When the men, led by their Qazis, reach the dance place i.e. Chirsu, they all gather together and perform a dance while throwing leaves and twigs in their hands on the women. A large number of local and foreign tourists had come to witness this festival. However, they had to face some difficulties due to the bad roads condition and lack of seating and other facilities for the tourists. A dozen tourists from Finland visited the Kailash Valley for the first time on the invitation of the Chitral Travel Bureau.
