# Silk Road Books & Photos

## Kalash

#### 35 | #### Wada, Akiko | #### Kalasha their life and tradition
2005 hardback with pictorial cover. 136 pages. Reprint by Sang –e-Meel. Lots of lovely colour photos of the Kalash , their clothes, locality, cultural heritage and architecture by a Japanese lady who married a kalash man and lives in Kafiristan. £30 Kalaash Their Life and Traditions
Elder Males singing the songs of Joshi, while women dance around them. Old and new songs reflect themes ranging from Kalasha history to romance. | A young woman is embroidering the border of a cotton dress using acrylic wool and a sewing machine. Until recently, woman's dress was woven and yarn used to be dyed by hand.
The Joshi festival is filled with dancing, drumming and religious rites. The girls enjoy the Cha, an up-tempo dance, in which groups of girls clasp each other’s shoulders and dance in spinning circles. Carved geometric designs and replicas of Balimain's horse flank the door to Jashtak temple where children actually conduct a number of ceremonial functions and rituals. Only during Chaumos men and women jokingly mock each other in songs. These women are taunting the returning men with a humorously insulting song.
The newly married girl proudly returns to her family home heavily decorated with the necklaces presented by her new female relatives at her first visit to her husband's home after marriage. | With cosmos flowers tucked in her headdress, and red lipstick designs on her face, this girl is ready for the dance.
Lawak Biik, the frightened fox day, is the last event of Chaumos. It does not have a religious significance because Balimain is gone. In Bumburet they go fox hunting in the mountains, and if a scared fox runs down to the village alive, it is a sign of good luck for the coming year. The hilarity continues after the hunt, with the dance of masquerade. Men dress up as women, and women as men. Faces are covered, so no one knows the masquerades’ identities. Back