CHITRAL: A festival marking the harvest and threshing of wheat concluded in the Kalash valleys of Bubmruate and Rumbur in the early hours of Friday amid merry-making.

On Thursday, the first concluding ceremony of Uchal festival was held in Rumbur valley with performance of the traditional ceremonies of placing a few grains of wheat of the newly-harvested crop and the finest quality cheese at the altar of the deity, while special songs were sung by the Kalash elders to seek its pleasure.

Later, the Kalash men and women as well as children proceeded to the dancing place in a procession situated in the upper parts of the village, where divided into different age groups, they sang and danced till the afternoon.

Director General Kalash Valleys Development Authority (KVDA), Minhasuddin was the chief guest on this occasion. He distributed gifts among the Kalash people and felicitated them in their traditional way for the Uchal festival.

The elders of the Rumbur valley marched to the adjoining valley of Bumburate, where the concluding ceremony started after the sunset in the central dancing place – charsu – where it continued till a couple of hours before the sunrise.

As per tradition, the Kalash men and women kept on dancing in different shifts to make the merry-making rolling on incessantly throughout the night, while the mountains of the valley kept on reverberating with the drumbeats.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2024