Amna
Jan 29, 2024
Kalash People: Preserving Ancestral Memories
Living in Pakistan's Hindu Kush mountain range, the Kalash community, with its distinct customs and colorful culture, still attracts anthropologists and tourists.
Sheltering the memories, especially those of the departed elders, is one of the very vital aspects of the Kalash culture.
So, let us discover the beautiful practices that the Kalash have concerning the memorization of the dead and funerals and how Confinity can enhance these traditions.
The Cycle of Life and Death: From Joshi to Sau
The Kalash have a cyclical perception of life and death; thus, they do not grieve death. Joshi, the spirit of the departed, is said to still be around the family for a year after the death and can affect the lives of the family members.
At this stage, the Joshi is supposed to die a natural death, and several complex ceremonies are carried out to help the Joshi's soul get a safe passage to the other world. One year after the individual's death, Joshi is then said to depart to Sau the individual's dead.
Rituals of Remembrance: Moving from Bashali to Shashu
Bashali, a festival celebrated forty days after a person's death, is one of the main components of Kalash's cultural memory. People meet, eat, listen to music, and dance for the dead person's spirit.
Animals are sacrificed, and tales of a person's life are told so society will not forget the person.
Shashi, a rite conducted several years after the death, denotes the last stage of Joshi's detachment from the world.
Complicated ceremonies honor the ancestors and make them happy to favor the living population.
Material Expressions of Memory: The topic in consideration is Graves and Effigies.
The Kalash people buried stick figures carved in the shape of human beings and dressed in bright clothes on the graves.
These puppets help preserve the deceased's physical appearance and interact with their spirit.
Bashali, worn by the deceased, is ceremonial clothing depicting the deceased's social status and accomplishments.
Oral Traditions and Storytelling: Lost Memories.
The Kalash people need to be literate and rely on the spoken word. Thespians and elders tell legends, tales, and knowledge about the past, the forefathers, and their actions.
These narratives keep memories of Anton Chekhov's stories Chekhov's Chekhov'snerationsChekhov'snerationslture.
The Challenges of Preserving Memories in the Digital Age
Although Kalash customs regarding the death and burial of their ancestors are pretty well-preserved, the modern world poses new difficulties.
Oral traditions can be easily forgotten, and physical manifestations of memory, such as puppets, can also become worn out.
Confinity: A Tool for Developing the Bond with Ancestors
Confinity understands the significance of people's memories of their heritage in Kalash society. Our platform can be a valuable tool to complement existing practices:
Documenting Rituals:
Bashali and Shashi videos and photos can be posted and saved in Confinity so that future generations can see the community's celebrations.
Preserving Oral Histories:
This way, the elders can store the stories and histories of their forebears on Confinity and pass on the critical information to the next generations.
Creating a Digital Archive of Effigies:
To preserve the memory of this unusual tradition, people can upload photos of Kalash effigies, describe the meaning of the symbols, and write biographies of the people depicted on the effigy to Confinity.
Conclusion
This is because the Kalash people show great respect to their forefathers, reflected in their way of preserving memory.
Thus, the rituals, the stories, and the material practices of remembrance guarantee the incorporation of the past into the present world.
Confinity links these age-old traditions to the present, helping the Kalash people establish a reliable and long-lasting history of their culture and fostering relationships between the younger and older generations.