It is early December in the Kalash Valley. The harvests have all been completed and the livestock have come down from the mountains. The ceremony to welcome the God Balimain of Kalash has begun. It includes rites of passage, purification, and sacrifice—all culminating in a farewell to Balimain, complete with torches and a large bonfire. The following is a report on a trip that brought me into contact with the rituals of a deep faith that continues to thrive in the modern age.
During the sacred period of Chawmos, Muslims are not allowed to enter the valley. Since neither staff nor drivers from Islamabad could enter the valley, Kalash staff came to Ayun to pick me up.
In the village of Kalash, a lot of laundry was hung out to dry to ensure people can wear new clothes during the sacred period. Before the purification ritual, one must take a bath and put on new clothes.
I made it just in time to be able to observe the Sharabirayak ritual in the Bumburet Valley. The word “Shara” means markhor and the word “Bira” means male goat. After the women bake walnut bread with cheese to be distributed the next day, the men knead dough, which they shape in the form of either markhor or male goats. These statues are then baked in a fireplace. This ritual is called Kuta Mru.
Sharabira making takes place at night. When I visited, there was no electricity in the valley, and I was able to glimpse the beautiful sight of a woman baking walnut bread by the light of a stove fire.
Afterward, the purified man kneads purified dough and begins to sculpt animal shapes.
He proceeded to bake them on the stove.
The ritual of Kuta Mru is performed in each household as well as in the temple of the goddess Jestak. The wheat collected from each family is used to make a Shara (markhor) at the Jestak Han temple. At night, the men gather to make Sharabira and spend the night painting on the walls and drinking until early in the morning. At around 4:00 a.m., they make a “tchich tchich” sound—intended to resemble the call made when chasing goats—urging the Sharabira to go to a place called “Dezelawat.” The people of Kalash believe that the souls of the Sharabira go to Dezelawat, which is located near the Afghan border.
A drawing of Sharabira on the wall of the Jestak Han temple. Three Shara (markhor) are placed by the altar.
The drawings on the walls of the temple are painted with charcoal made from burning walnut bark prepared by the women.
For those unfamiliar with the markhor, it is the national animal of Pakistan and is known to be extremely valuable for trophy hunting. In the 2024-25 winter hunting season, permission to hunt three Kashmir markhor was given, and each was auctioned off for between $231,000 and $271,000. It is said that 80% of the income from trophy hunting is returned to the local community, and in order to increase the number of trophies, conservation is carried out. Though this initiative has led to the number of markhor increasing, as someone who loves animals, I feel rather conflicted about this.
The markhor is a highly sacred animal to the people of Kalash. They can be seen in Chitral Gol National Park and nearby game reserves. Males with large horns are usually found at higher elevations in the mountains, but during the winter breeding season they come down to lower elevations, making it possible to observe them. The variant in this region is a subspecies, and is known as the Kashmir markhor.
Text & Photo: Mariko SAWADA
Visit: Dec 2024, Kalash Valley, Toshi Shasha – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
＊The information presented here is based on interviews with people in the area. Please note that the descriptions and explanations of the rituals may differ depending on the source.
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