MANDAHIK (15 December). The ritual of “feeding” the spirits of the dead.
Preparations of food for the spirits of the dead, to be taken to Jes'tak Han temple, are made in all Kalasha houses. A great amount of all kinds of bread must be made: the tasili ‘thin plain crepe’; the bilili ‘thick crepe filled with crushed walnuts’, both made from batter, and the t'at'ori ‘thick crepe filled with crushed walnuts, but made from dough, all baked in a stove, together with potatoes and pumpkins. Outside the temple a square wooden construction, the kot'ik, is made, to be burnt later in order to shed light for the dead when they come to ‘eat’ the offerings (bread and fruit) placed outside next to the kot'ik. When the fire of the burning kot'ik goes off (meaning that the dead “have eaten and left”) the basket of their food is taken inside the temple and eaten by a virgin girl. The ritual will not start until some men go to the sanctuary uphill and give offerings and pray. Inside Jes’tak Han all the Kalasha holding a burning torch will share their food already collected in large baskets and placed on the floor where a fire is burning in the center of the temple. Then they all sing and dance inside and outside the temple until midnight. The dancing will continue the following morning.