Interesting blog post from George’s VSO adventures. Visit Flickr page as well for photos from Hunza
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There were two major festivals that she told me about – Tahum and Cheneer, and both were based around the agricultural cycle. Tahum celebrated the beginning of spring. People cleaned their house and made traditional food, which was shared within the village, particularly among the elders. They went to the Jammat Khana early in the morning to pray. The Jammat Khana is the Ismaili mosque and centre of village life.
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Everyone in this village is Ismaili, and Ayesha is clearly proud to be an Ismaili. Women are able to go to the Jammat Khana to pray, and in the village they often go daily. Inside the Jammat Khana people pray and learn from the Imams, but it also a place where community affairs can be discussed. Ismailism is very tolerant; the Aga Khan is really respected and he interprets the Qu’ran and provides guidance on how to live as an Ismaili. Key messages that Ayesha told me are to respect your culture, make bridges with other communities, respect diversity and pluralism, fasting is not only a matter of not eating, but your whole life should be fasting from sin and evil. The main thing is to respect human beings – first of all, people are human.
Ismailimail 