These nearly extinct people are interesting for sometimes having fair hair, light eyes & skin (by Pakistani standards), their resistance to abandon their culture, and their supposed Macedonian/Greek/Cretan origin. Like most small minorities -there are only 3000-4000 of them
- they have absorbed genes from the majority population.
A young woman from the Kalasha tribe in the northern valley of Bumburet near Chitrall, shows her traditional facial tattoos made using mulberry juice on July 7, 2003. The Kalasha are a tiny non-Muslim tribe some believe descend from the ancient armies of Alexander the Great. The tribe has clung to traditional ways of life in the face of energetic attempts to convert them to Islam or Christianity.
http://www.brain.net.pk/~pedd/kalash.jpg
http://www.nba.fi/MUSEUMS/KULTMUS/pakistan.JPG
http://home6.inet.tele.dk/nitschke/i...lash_stort.jpg
http://www.phf.sdnpk.org/Images/Kalash12.jpg
In French with pictures
In Dutch
A bit about them here
Kalash Valley
PAGAN KALASH REGIONAL FESTIVALS
It is believed that the people numbering 3 to 4 thousand living in the Chitral District of NWFP are connected to the old Greek civilization. The tourists visiting NWFP also visit one of the world's ancient tribe of Kalash people and their civilization during their following festivals each year.
Name of Festival/Dates
Cheelim Jusht (Spring Festival)/2nd week of May
Uchal (Summer Season Festival)/2nd week of August
Pur (Autumn Festival)/2nd week of October
Cheetermas (Winter Festival)/3rd week of December
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