choimus or chomush winter festival
Choimus Winter Festival is among four festivals that people of Kailash celebrate. UNESCO listed Kailash culture as “Intangible Cultural Heritage” in November 2018. The event is celebrated with dances in circles around bonfires and singing Choimus songs. The girls wear intricate costumes with dresses made of cowery shells, coins and beads. Other pieces of jewellery include necklaces made from apricot kernels, a traditional gift during Choimus. Women often paint their faces with ink (replacing earlier customs of facial tattooing).
Just before the main festival, seasonal foods are offered to the ancestral spirits, lights are lit for the ancestors. During the festival, purity is of the utmost important factor and celibacy is enforced throughout the days of the event so all the people will be in pure mind when Balmain visits the valley. All the people must be cleansed in ritual bathing the week before the festival begins. During the men’s purification ceremony, men are not allowed to sit down during the whole day. Special bread is cooked away from the main village, which is prepared by men only during the purification ceremony. Other bread called Jaou or Choimus bread prepared for the festival, which is stuffed with crushed walnuts and goat’s cheese.
Itinerary
Day | Visiting Location | Overnight |
01 | Lahore | Arrival in Lahore after short rest half day city tour of Lahore |
02 | Lahore | Full day sightseeing in Lahore including Wagah Border flag ceremony |
03 | Lahore-Khewra Salt Mines-Islamabad | Drive to Islamabad en-route visit Khewra Salt Mines & Ketas Temple |
04 | Islamabad | Full day city tour of Islamabad and Rawalpindi |
05 | Islamabad-Swat | Drive to beautiful Swat valley en-route visit Takht-i-Bhai an important archaeological site |
06 | Swat-Kailash valley | Drive to Kailash valley to see the festival |
07 | Kailash valley | Witness full day celebrations of Choimus Festival |
08 | Kailash-Chitral | Half day spend in Bamburet to celebrate the event. In the afternoon drive to Chitral |
09 | Chitral-Peshawar | Drive to Peshawar, half-day city tour of Peshawar |
10 | Peshawar-Taxila-Islamabad | Drive to Islamabad, en-route visit Taxila archaeological site and museum, later drive to Islamabad |
11 | Homebound Flight | Transfer to airport to take homebound flight. |