Rituals and Festivals as a Space for Kalash Identity

Abstract

This research paper is an attempt to understand ancestral and cultural traditions, faith, mystic experiences, oral history and mythology of the Kalash people. There is no written evidence about the history and origin of Kalash. The religious ideology is attained through the verbal recollection of folklore, myths and miracles. Kalash identity is exhibited in the form of their sacred rituals and festivals. Rituals are the means of communication to the Supreme Being; they are very peculiar, and very symbolic. Their identity can be witnessed through the ritual of exclusive public dance which distinguishes them from others occupying the same geographical space. Their tradition is famous and distinguished because of its mystic songs accompanied with an unusual group dancing. The triumphant of drum and chants of clapping all together creates a sensational environment for the visitors. The contemporary Kalash religion and rituals are entirely different from the accounts provided by the historians, travelers and sociologists before the war of independence in 1857. The Kalash are now monotheist believing in one supreme authority “Dezau” and the shamans through whom they have received their religious knowledge. The study was conducted in Bumburet valley of district Chitral, Pakistan. The qualitative anthropological research technique was adopted for acquiring the ethnographic data for the research in hand.