(See part 1 here.)
The Chaumos festival centers around the arrival of the deity Balumain.
Impure and uninitiated persons are not admitted to the ceremony. Purification is achieved by waving a fire brand over women and children and by a special fire ritual for men, involving a shaman waving juniper brands over the men. The ‘old rules’ of gods are no longer in force, as is typical for year-end carnival-like rituals. Different from other festivals, drum and flute are now forbidden and only the human voice is allowed. … Balumain is offered specially baked bread, often in the form of sacred animals, such as the ibex. This is later taken up to his mountain seat by a shepherd ‘king’ and offered along with goat milk. In the ritual, a fire is constructed out of superimposed, crossing twigs and a goat, especially its heart, is offered into the fires. Ancestors, impersonated by young boys are worshipped and offered bread. The children hold onto each other and form a chain and snake through the village…. Balumain is a visitor god, he arrives in Kalash in early December, before the solstice, and leaves the day after. He always comes riding a horse…. Sometimes Balumain is seen as female. When he turns right, he is male, when he turns left, she is female. The shaman in a trance at the sacred Tok tree, identifies and addresses Kalumain with Kushumai, the goddess of fertility, and the festival king honors her. There is a myth about Kushumai’s staying away from Balumain’s reception, back on her own mountain. Balumain turned towards her, and he in fact became Kushumai, and is now addressed as such.[1]
The goddess Dizane, also called Disni or Dezalik, has many of the same attributes as Jeskak. She “sprang into existence from the right breast of the creator god Imrá. Placing her in the palm of his hand, Imrá threw her violently upwards. She alighted in a lake, and was there concealed and released…” [Robertson, 381] The goddess is conceived of as an emanation from a male creator, but also as coming into being independently. By other accounts, she is Imrá’s sister.”[2]
Several hymns to Disni recorded in Shtiwe, Nuristan, celebrate her as a giver of life-force. This one, sung in early spring when the flocks are taken up to the mountain pastures, calls to mind Avestan paeans to the milk-giving Iranian goddess Anahita:
O Disni, you are the protector of the gates of God
and moreover you have eighteen grades:
Keeper of the temple
Giver of milk to human beings,
Protector of infants,
Well-wisher of man-kind [sic],
Bearer of welfare from God,
You keep the door of milk flowing,
You bring sensuality to mankind,
You increase what is created,
You are the one who receives permits from God,
And you are the keeper of the nine gates of mercy.
[Edelberg, 10]
One important tradition shows Dizane as the Sacred Tree. Robertson had collected a “good story” about this tree, “but the record of this story was lost in a mountain torrent.” [385] He remembered bits of it: “Dizane the trunk of the fabulous tree whose roots were the goddess Nirmali, while the branches were seven families of brothers, each seven in number. Some Kafirs affirmed that Dizane was the daughter of Satarám. She may have been originally the goddess of fruitfulness. She usually shares a shrine with other deities, but at Kámdesh she has the pretty little temple… all to herself. There, at the Munzilo festival, those Kanesh who live in the upper village have to sleep in the open.” [Robertson, 411] The emphasis on outdoor shrines in Nature is pervasive in Kalasha culture.
Another story told by a Kám priest reveals more about what became of Dizane after Imrá threw her up in the air and she alighted in the waters: “In a distant land, unknown to living men, a large tree grew in the middle of a lake. The tree was so big, that if any one had attempted to climb it, he would have taken nine years to accomplish the feat; while the spread of the branches was so great that it would occupy eighteen years to travel from one side of it to other.[3]
Carved images of Dezalik, aka Dizane, Disne, in Kalash Museum
Dezalik, is the great Mother Goddess and patroness of women in childbirth and confinement. In the villages, there are separate structures for women during their menstrual cycle and for during and just after childbirth. In Chitral, Kalasha women invoke Dezalik in the bashali, the women’s house where they go to menstruate and give birth. If a birth is difficult, they offering walnuts to her, praying, “Oh, my Dezalik of the bashali, make her deliver quickly, bring the new flower into her arms, don’t make things difficult; your eating and drinking.” And again: “Oh, my Dezalik of the bashali, one has come under your care. Bring health, set the flower in her arms, your eating and drinking,” as the women throw more walnuts to the goddess.[4]
At the entrance to some of the villages are Kunduriks, which are wooden sculptures in commemoration of a respected male member of the tribe. They are similar to the Gandaus in appearance, but serve a different purpose.
The special exemption for the Kalash tribe to maintain their heritage applies to both the tangible/visual, i.e. dress, language etc. as well as intangible/spiritual aspects of their traditions. While preserving their heritage, today, students learn Urdu in school and can choose between a tribal village life or a more modern one or find a way to balance between the two. Family and community bonds remain quite strong. As a tribal community, the elders used to distribute justice. The federal court system has changed this for federal offences, but family and community matters remain the domain of village elders throughout tribal areas, so long as they don’t interfere with the laws of the land.
While we were visiting intricately wood carved rooms and gardens in the village, a young girl approached us. She was dressed in the typical Kalash outfit, that she had made herself. At fifteen, she was already a budding entrepreneur and guide. She showed us around, invited us to her house, and then to her aunt’s shop, where she had personally made many of the items for sale. By this time, it was getting dark and we needed to get down the hill to our car and drive back to Chitral for the night. Driving at night is definitely not to be recommended. It was a memorable day with warm friendly people. The Kalash people and their traditions are fascinating. Their woodworking and textile skills are renowned throughout Central Asia, as is their wine. It is not clear whether or not they are descendants of Alexander the Great’s army, but what is certain is that many of the ancient rituals and traditions thrive in this very remote and fascinating region.
(End of the Sequel)
[1] M. Witzel, Kalash Religion. Extract from: The Ṛgvedic Religious System and its Central Asian and
Hindukush Antecedents. A. Griffiths & J.E.M. Houben (eds.). The Vedas:
Texts, Language and Ritual. Groningen: Forsten 2004: 581-636
[2] Goddesses of the Kalasha, http://www.sourcememory.net/veleda/?p=684
[3] Goddesses of the Kalasha, https://www.travelgirls.pk/2020/04/28/goddesses-of-the-kalasha/
[4] Goddesses of the Kalash, www.travelgirls.pk
Thank you- I find this series fascinating. I think often about the 3 elders brewing liqueur in the first post. What a privilege to have this culture opened up by your work.