Chawmos (suomeksi)

Määritelmät:

The most important Kalash festival, which is celebrated for two weeks at the winter solstice. It marks the end of the year's fieldwork and harvest and involves much music, dancing, and the sacrifice of many goats. It is dedicated to the god Balimain who is believed to visit from the mythical homeland of the Kalash, Tsyam, for the duration of the feast. Food sacrifices are offered at the clans' Jeshtak shrines, dedicated to the ancestors. At Chawmos, impure and uninitiated persons are not admitted; they must be purified by a 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 main Chawmos ritual takes place at a Tok tree, a place called Indra's plac. Ancestors, impersonated by young boys, are worshipped and offered bread; they hold on to each other and form a chain and snake through the village. The men must be divided into two parties: the pure ones have to sing the well-honored songs of the past, but the impure sing wild, passionate, and obscene songs, with an altogether different rhythm. This is accompanied by a 'sex change': men dress as women, women as men. This includes the Festival of the Budulak.