At the foot of the Himalayas, on the Pakistani border with Afghanistan, you can find the remains of a centuries-old culture. The Kalasha people live in the three valleys of Bumbaret, Birir and Rumbur, where they practice an ancient Indo-European, polytheistic faith in harmony with nature and speak their own language.
According to legend, they are descendants of Greek troops who settled in the Hindu Kush during the campaigns of Alexander the Great. In the course of history, the majority of the Kalasha were forcibly converted or killed. In the meantime, the pressure on the Kalasha culture has become more subtle.
Through state schools, tourism and improved connections to the major Pakistani cities, Islam has spread further and further in the once isolated valleys of the Kalasha and is becoming increasingly visible. Converting to Islam seems appealing to many young Kalasha, promising higher education opportunities, better working conditions and a way out of poverty. Since 1950, their numbers have fallen from 30,000 to just 3,800 today.
Preserving the culture now rests primarily on the shoulders of the next Kalasha generation. How do they see their future? Can they lead a modern life and at the same time hold on to their – sometimes very elaborate – traditions? Or will tourism and the pressure to adapt to the Muslim majority lead to the Kalasha culture dying out in the coming years?
A film by Sabiha Sumar
A production commissioned by ZDF in collaboration with ARTE
43 min | 2019