Pakistan's Kafiristan Valley, where most people believe in fire and idolatry
To the south of the Hindu Kush is a tribe called Kafiristan or the Kalash Valley. Kailash is a two-hour drive from Chitral. Their ancestors migrated from Syria and settled here. Their language is a combination of Sanskrit and Persian which they call "Kailash".
The people here are beautiful. Like this valley, the majority belong to fire worship and idolatry. But some people have also converted to Islam. Dancing and sacrificing animals are part of their religious rituals.
Kailash women wear long and black dresses. Which are decorated with pearls. Because of their black clothes, they are called sha posh in Chitral. While men wear shalwar kameez, the common dress used in Pakistan.
Unlike Pakistani society, the union of men and women in Kailash is not considered bad. Pachlani is a village in the Kailash Valley which is reserved for women only and where only pregnant women live. After a certain tradition and purification, women go back to their husbands.
The culture of the Kalash tribe is different from all the other tribes living in Chitral. People from all over the world come here to see their different cultures. There is a concept of God in Kailash but there is no concept of a prophet or a book. Here the birth of a child and the death of a human being are both happy occasions.
When someone dies, he is kept in the community hall for one day. All the people of Kailash gather there and food and Shabab and Kebab are arranged for them. The people of this tribe believe that the dead should happily bid farewell to the world and the last rites should be celebrated. Money, cigarettes and alcohol are kept with the dead in the air. In the old days, these people used to put men in coffins and leave them in the desert. But now there is a tradition of burial. Surprisingly, the Fotki family in the Kalash tribe has to carry a minimum of eight lakhs and a maximum of four lakhs.
Like death, they have strange rituals for marriage and birth. The girl chases the boy away for marriage. The girl's parents, the boy's parents and the village elders are informed about this. The girl's family confirms to the girl that she was not forced to do so. Gone and after that the feast is arranged. On the wedding day, the girl's uncles come to the girl's house. The boy who gives a bull and a gun as a gift and in the same way the series of gifts continues in the family for many days.
Surprisingly, married women of the Kalash tribe can also be evicted and if the will of the woman is involved in it, the first husband cannot object in any way. Not only are they invited but they are also given money as a gift along with a full meal and this process continues till the child of the opposite sex is born.
Every child born in Kailash lives in Pakistan, but European NGOs open an account in each child's name and send money to these children with a monthly stipend. In which people are requested to convert to Christianity if they are aware of Kailash religions. Kailash women are allowed to marry Muslim boys and the trend is growing which is causing trouble not only to the people of Kailash religions but also to European NGOs.