Kalash Valleys the unique cultural Heritage

The prime attractions of Chitral are the Kalash Valleys, the home of the non-Muslim situated southwest of Chitral town between the Kunar River and Afghan border. These valleys Bumboreth, Rumbur and Birir are on the age of the monsoon belt, so the vegetation is dense with large walnut and fruit trees are draped in grapevines swiftly flowing streams. Lush green fields with wheat, barley, maize, vegetables and fodder and steep ridges with evergreen forest add to the beauty of the valleys.

The 5,000 Kalash living in about 20 villages in the lower ends of Birir, Bombutreth and Rumbur were once part of the neighboring Afghanistan. The whole area was called Kafristan (land of infidels) but in 1896 they were forcibly converted to Islam and the name of their homeland changed into Nuristan(the Land of Light). The Chitrali Kafir Kalash still follow their own religion, a mixture of animism and ancestor and fire worship, and have retained their some of their original culture (but some of the younger girls use to observe Purdah and changed into modernism which has been affected by the neighbor community).

Kalash women wear their cultural decorated dress at all they hang multiple strings of red beads and plait their hair into five narrow braids, which stick out from under magnificent head dress. The Kalash men wear ordinary shalwar Kameez (common in whole Pakistan) and indistinguishable from their Muslim neighbors. Now a day most of the young girls do not allow to take picture if you are female tourist could be possible to convince, but still they are tourist friendly. You can visit to their homes and villages comfortably and they show their culture of hospitality.

It is tour hour jeep drive to Bumburet and Rumbur of the Kalash Valleys. The third valley Birir is further south and takes around three hour to get there. Visiting to Kalash Valleys is exciting and interesting you should not miss if you are in Chitral. Most of the Kalash villages are set back from the road with tightly packed houses stacked on above the other up the steep hillside.

You can visit the houses and examine their architecture of the carefully built houses, with their huge wooden beams alternating with layers of neatly jointed stones. The dry stone work in Kalash is the best in Pakistan. The wooden temples in most houses have doors and pillars carved with entwined geometric designs and goat and horse heads.

Exploring around the villages is also interesting you can find paths and irrigation channels that are miracles of local engineering: wooden aqueducts sported on wooden poles fly across narrow gorges and closely fitted dry-stone buttresses, resting on the smallest projections, hold the channels in place across the often vertical cliff walls to irrigate tiny clearings in the woods. Building these take the years of skilled labor, and maintaining them constant vigilance.

The Kalasha celebrate some of the interesting festivals during the different seasons of the year enthusiastically well worth to visit during the time. The most interesting one is Chilim Joshi Festival celebrated 14 to 18 May which is for the arrival of spring. The events in the festival are interesting, with music, dances and singing songs. All men and women get well dressed on these days and visit to their relatives and friends with gifts. For more details and know about the all festivals go to the relevant page on our website. If you wish to visit feel free to contact us to manage your plan and enjoy our services.