HOLGER HOFFMANN: At the Kalashi's Winter Solstice Festival
Lens Magazine|February 2022
The Chawmos, a 14-day Winter Solstice Festival, is the most important event in the year of the Kalashi, an animist minority in northern Pakistan.
HOLGER HOFFMANN
HOLGER HOFFMANN: At the Kalashi's Winter Solstice Festival

The Festival is a portrait in contrasts: solemn ritual and joyous dancing, gender segregation and public flirtation, togetherness, and isolation. Purity and purification are the big themes of this festival.

The Kalash are a group of about 4,000 people, the country’s smallest minority group, who live in the mountains of the Hindu Kush, where they practice an ancient polytheistic faith.

Their religion is often compared to an ancient form of Hinduism, but the origins of the Kalash are a mystery. Their faith incorporates animistic traditions of worshiping nature and a pantheon of gods, whose members, in some instances, bear resemblances to the Vedic gods of ancient India.

The main god of the Kalash is Balumain, the lord of heaven to whom the festival is dedicated. The Kalash believe places and people are most likely to be visited by Balumain only after being cleaned, pure, and sanctified.

Each year, they come together for Chawmos, a New Year festival that coincides with the winter solstice marked by animal sacrifice, dance, and prescribed roles for men and women.

Holger Hoffmann has experienced this festival up close and has undergone the necessary cleansing rituals, getting to know the lively and very friendly people.

Esta historia es de la edición February 2022 de Lens Magazine.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición February 2022 de Lens Magazine.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE LENS MAGAZINEVer todo
IN THE SHIPYARDS OF DHAKA
Lens Magazine

IN THE SHIPYARDS OF DHAKA

A very large shipyard in Dhaka is located on the Buriganga River's banks, directly across Dhaka's old city.

time-read
3 minutos  |
February 2023 - The Colorful Issue
Aga Szydlik INDIA
Lens Magazine

Aga Szydlik INDIA

A JOURNEY INTO THE LAND OF DIVERSITY, CULTURE, AND COLORS

time-read
2 minutos  |
February 2023 - The Colorful Issue
SEBASTIAN PIÓREK EXPLORING Enjoyable LANDSCAPE
Lens Magazine

SEBASTIAN PIÓREK EXPLORING Enjoyable LANDSCAPE

I retrieved the idea of nature closely linked to the field of human feelings.

time-read
1 min  |
February 2023 - The Colorful Issue
The Extreme Macro Photography of Bees
Lens Magazine

The Extreme Macro Photography of Bees

AN INTERVIEW SAM WITH, DROEGE

time-read
4 minutos  |
February 2023 - The Colorful Issue
JEAN KAROTKIN GYMNOPEDIES
Lens Magazine

JEAN KAROTKIN GYMNOPEDIES

Gymnopédies, Karotkin's ongoing series of botanical portraits, takes its name from a trio of piano compositions by 19th-century French composer Erik Satie.

time-read
3 minutos  |
February 2023 - The Colorful Issue
BUTTERFLIES IN LOVE WITH FLOWERS
Lens Magazine

BUTTERFLIES IN LOVE WITH FLOWERS

I sometimes think Chinese art is not fully appreciated in the West. I was exposed to it growing up in Australia, although my fascination was more with calligraphy.

time-read
2 minutos  |
February 2023 - The Colorful Issue
Lissa Hahn:
Lens Magazine

Lissa Hahn:

Hahn: HOW TO EVOKE A PAVLOVIAN RESPONSE IN HUMANS

time-read
7 minutos  |
February 2023 - The Colorful Issue
AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ELENA PARASKEVA
Lens Magazine

AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ELENA PARASKEVA

Elena Paraskeva is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning Conceptual Photographer and Art Director and, most recently, an official ADOBE instructor.

time-read
8 minutos  |
February 2023 - The Colorful Issue
From a Living Hell to Heaven on Earth: the Inhumanity and Humanity of Humans
Lens Magazine

From a Living Hell to Heaven on Earth: the Inhumanity and Humanity of Humans

In a remote area of western Wisconsin, dogs and cats who otherwise would have ended up on death row are given a reprieve. They can now live out their lives in peace and comfort and with companionship at Home for Life (HFL), which was not afforded them outside the sanctuary's gates.

time-read
8 minutos  |
November 2022 Humanity
The Art of DISAPPEARING
Lens Magazine

The Art of DISAPPEARING

In the classical proposal, indigenous people are usually the topic of discussion, but rarely do they have a hand in shaping it.

time-read
3 minutos  |
November 2022 Humanity