Chitral Times Report
CHITRAL: Kalash famous festival Chomas continue in all three villages of Kalash valley, including Bumburaite, Rumboor and Birir. During the festival different events were celebrated, the two main events were Madaik and Kuta Maru;
Madaik
This festival is celebrated for the souls of the dead people. All the relatives of the person died after this ceremony was last celebrated gather in his house and celebrate the festival. The festival is celebrated at night but it starts in the evening. During the day people take gifts for their “Jamelies”. Jameli means the daughter of the family. So people take gifts for their sisters and daughters. In the evening when all the good foods together with the fruit are brought in the temple, the doors of all the houses are closed nobody is allowed to make any noise. Then an elder goes and calls loudly to the souls of the dead saying “O gad’a bas’ara ew zhuy zhe pi o para” which means, “o elders and older’s come, eat and drink and then go”. One basket full of all kinds of food is put out side the temple door for the souls. During this time people stay inside their homes and keep the doors shut. After a while the doors are open and the foods are shared among each other.
Kut’a Mru.
This ceremony starts as busy day because the children make pictures on the temple walls early this morning. Then people go to grind wheat for the ceremony. And at night people make goats and sheep and all sorts of different shapes out of dough. Songs concerning the festival are sung with any musical instruments in the houses and danced on them. Some of these songs are called sacred songs. Food and fruits are offered in all houses to everybody who enters the house. The animals made of dough are decorated. Then people wake up before dawn and perform the ceremony of driving the animals away. Which is called “shara birayak t’rat’rek”. Then these goats and sheep made of dough are given to the cows some time after and nowadays-Muslim children come to take them home to play with them because some of them are beautifully made.
During the festival several foreign tours ts attended the festival.
