Fun Karachi: [ F K ] Beauty of Chitral & Kailash (With Brief history)

Wednesday 13 February 2008

[ F K ] Beauty of Chitral & Kailash (With Brief history)

Beauty of Chitral & Kailash, PAKISTAN (With Brief history)

(Click on the Images to enlarge the View)

A beautiful View of Chitral

Chitral, or Chatrāl (Urdu: چترال), in the native language Khowar pronounced "chetrar"(chetr meaning field), is the name of a town, valley, river, district, and former princely state in the former Malakand Division of the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan.

Chitral Town, capital of the Chitral District, is situated on the west bank of the Chitral (or Kunar) River. The town is at the foot of Tirich Mir, the highest peak of the Hindu Kush, 7,708 m or 25,289 ft high. It has a population of 20,000, while the District (of 14,833 km² or 5,727 sq mi), has a population of 300,000. The altitude of the valley is 1,100 m or 3,700 ft.

Kailash Lake in Chitral

The Kalash (Nuristani: Kasivo) or Kalasha, are an ethnic group of the Hindu Kush, settling in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. They speak the Kalash language, a member of the Dardic family.
Not to be confused are the Nuristani people, who are also occasionally referred to as Kalasha.

Dress of Kailash People

There is some controversy over what defines the ethnic characteristics of the Kalash. Although quite numerous before the 20th century, the non-Muslim minority has seen its numbers dwindle over the past century. A leader of the Kalash, Saifulla Jan, has stated, "If any Kalash converts to Islam, they can't live among us anymore. We keep our identity strong."[1] Thousands have converted to Islam, yet still live nearby in the Kalash villages and maintain their language and many aspects of their ancient culture. In fact, sheikhs, or converts to Islam, make up more than half of the total Kalasha-speaking population