Zhoshi 2022: First phase part 2

 

Zhoshi 2022:  First phase part 2

The spring starts in moorlands of Chitral region of the Hindu Kush in May and to welcome the spring the Kalasha community celebrates the Joshi (also called Zhoshi) festival for three days. The people start storing milk when elders of the community announce the dates for the festivals. They start to store milk in their barns before ten days of the festivals. Later, the collected milk is distributed among the tribe-fellows.

The first preparing phase of Joshi festival consists of ten days; the shepherds live in goat-houses and do not visit their homes for nine days. During these days the shepherds clean the goat-sheds and all utensils.

After the first phase of (ten days) the festival, young boys and girls fetch yellow flowers (Sophora Mollis) from the pastures and branches of walnut to decorate their houses, doorways, walls and also decorate barns and the Jestak han, the temple of Jestak.

Practically, this is the first day of the festival. On this day the collected milk is distributed among the tribe-fellows to celebrate the festival. The ceremony of distributing and drinking the milk is called “c’irik pipi”.  Which means, “drink the milk.”

The words of this phrase are the polite accents of the two words “c’ir” milk “pi” drink. In this festival women sing the melodious song “para para may bayaa zhoshi gos’t’ para c’irik pipi o shishamond hawaw.” Which means “I went to my brothers barn on the festival of zhoshi and look it is the time of c’irik pipi.”

On the first day men visit the shrine of Shingmou, they clean it, decorate it with new branches and offer some dried mulberries and walnuts to the shrine.