BUMBURATE: The four-day Chilim Jush festival held in the Kalash valleys of Bumburate, Birir and Rumbur concluded on Thursday with the concluding function at Bumburate.
A large number of tourists, including foreigners, visited the Kalash valleys and witnessed the celebrations of the oldest cultural festivals of the Kalash tribe.
Deputy Commissioner Lower Chitral Muhammad Imran Khan was the chief guest at the concluding ceremony.
The local residents distributed dry fruits and other gifts among the visitors and guests. Rituals of marriages of young boys and girls were also held on the concluding day.
The Kalash Valleys Development Authority (KVDA) and the district administration of Lower Chitral had made all arrangements for the event.
The organisers said that this year the participation of local and foreign tourists was tremendous and that almost all hotels in Bumburate had been booked well before the start of the festival.
On the first day, Z’oshi/Zosh ceremony took place where boys and girls went to the higher pastures to pluck wildflowers and walnut leaves to the beat of drums. On second day, C’irik pi pi (milk drinking and distribution day) was held in which goat stables were decorated with wildflowers and walnut leaves, singing rituals, and ceremonies take place in every village.
On the third day, villages got together at the top of a village, distributed dried mulberries and walnuts for the ceremony of newborn babies.
On the fourth day, during the Ghona ceremony, all the villagers of the Kalash community gathered at the main venue and similar rituals and ceremonies were followed.