Who are Kalash people in Pakistan | Travel Documentary
Pakistan, the land of colors in this blog, we are traveling to a lesser-known place on planet earth I'm not talking about Pakistan but is a remote area that is part of this country an area where an ancient group of Kalash lives. there are less than four thousand Kalash people left in the world and we are going to celebrate and dance with them at their annual Kalash festival I was just offered a Kalash dress and I'm so overwhelmed with the hospitality, if you haven't heard of Kalash don't worry you are not alone, keep watching to learn about the Kalash culture and its people.
The Kalash valleys are located in the north-west of Pakistan not too far from the border with Afghanistan There is no easy way to get here We had to travel to Islamabad and take a very long road-trip from the capital towards Chitral We are in Islamabad and we are ready to leave the city.
We are going from Islamabad to Chitra, and we have 10 hours of driving After leaving the motorway, the roads can be quite bumpy and somewhat dangerous if you want to travel to Kalash you might want to take a break along the way some people choose to spend the night in the town of Chitral but we stay in Ayun, instead which is only 20 kilometers away from Kalash From here to the Kalash valleys there is no tarmac road We just crossed that bridge, it is so scary It’s even scarier when you think that this is the main road the only connection between the people of Kalash and the rest of the world The Kalash live in three valleys: Bumburet, Birir, and Rumbur Even in these valleys, they are a minority.
They are only 20% of the population here The rest are Muslims, including a high number of people who converted from Kalash to Islam Kalash is listed by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage Here is Bumburet, the most visited valley in Kalash Education here is a privilege not a right Only 18% of Kalsh women and 25% of men go to school Amongst the three valleys, there is only one high school, two secondary schools, and 10 primary schools Kalash and Muslim students, both boys and girls study together Kalash girls wear their traditional dresses while the Muslim girls wear hijabs and cover their hair In front of this school, there is a secluded house called “Bashali”
where we are not allowed to film or enter Women are sent to this house during menstruation and childbirth because they are considered impure Going to the other valleys is not as smooth as going to Bumburet We are on a bumpy road in a very narrow road and we don't have seatbelts health and safety is zero, here People here don’t complain about their situation, instead, they help each other and try to improve it The Kalash are happy people.
They celebrate different festivals throughout the year One of the main ones is called Utchal and it takes place on the 22nd of August The preparations for the festival start days before the main event. Women here make their own dresses which they will wear at the festival During the day people are busy with their normal life farming, preparing food and so on but when the Sun sets down they gather here every night before the festival to dance and sing.
This is the way they worship their God The day of the festival starts early with their purification ceremony In this ceremony, only men are allowed to attend the thank their God by eating some special bread and goat cheese later, everyone heads to the top of this hill to worship and dance This festival attracts both local and international tourists I was just offered a Kalash dress and I am so overwhelmed with the hospitality here Actually, this is a Kalash dress.
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