Abstract
The author presents a collection of texts recorded in 2006–07 during the winter ritual cycle of the Kalasha of the Birir valley – in NorthWest Pakistan – who still practice an archaic form of polytheism with pre-Vedic roots. The fulcrum of the cycle is the Chaumos Winter Solstice Festival, but a number of other festivities follow it at intervals forming a sequence almost two months long, lasting until February. The selection includes texts of songs, chants or prayers from each of these festivities. To allow the reader to relate them to the context in which they were recorded, the texts are accompanied by explanatory ethnographic notes. An introduction sketches the broader scene in which the research was carried out. The texts are in the Birir dialect of Kalashamon, the language of the Kalasha, a North-West-Indo-Aryan, or Dardic, language.
Highlights
The objective of this article is to present a number of texts recorded by the author between December 2006 and early February 2007, during the winter ritual cycle of the Kalasha community of Birir, which
Numbering only a few thousands, they speak an Indo-Aryan language of the North-West-Indo-Aryan (Dardic) (Bashir 2003) group called Kalashamon (Morgenstierne 1973; Bashir 1988; Trail & Cooper 1999; Heegård 2006; Di Carlo 2009), and they are the last polytheists of the Hindu Kush1
Their religion is the last example of a multifarious constellation of archaic polytheisms that still at the beginning of the nineteenth century were widely practiced throughout the Hindu Kush/Karakorum chain, from present-day Afghan Nuristan to western Ladakh
Summary
The texts presented here are only a small part of those recorded, which amount to hours and minutes. Like that of the Kalasha, in which the hierarchical principle, apart from gender relations, applies only to the relations between the young and the elder, these insults represent a reversal of roles that is quite typical of New Year celebrations Such reversals have been seen as a ritual of separation (Van Gennep 1981: 98), in which ordinary social ties are modified and sometimes even severed. When the processions reached the temple greeted by the chant of the women gathered under the porch, inside the building the drums were beating and the dancing had already begun.The text transcribed here is only one of the many – the singing and dancing went on until 3 a.m. Of the three genres featured in all Kalasha celebrations, ca~ is the one that usually expresses the core theme of the event (Di Carlo 2007: 76)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
