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    Spring in the Hindu Kush Mountains

    Meet Zarmina, 10, lost in innocent thoughts as her village gears for the <i>Joshi</i> spring festival, held in late May each year to mark the passing of the cold season and the planting of new crops. <p> Zarmina is a <i>Kalasha</i>, progeny of an ancient Indo-Iranian tribe that has fascinated travelers and mystified anthropologists for centuries. The polytheistic Kalash once thrived in the fertile valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains in present-day Pakistan; today, with their distinctive religion and cultural practices under constant threat from Muslim proselytism, the Kalash are among the most endangered peoples in the world.

    PAKISTAN | Monday, 24 November 2014 | Views [308] | View Smaller Image

    Meet Zarmina, 10, lost in innocent thoughts as her village gears for the Joshi spring festival, held in late May each year to mark the passing of the cold season and the planting of new crops.

    Zarmina is a Kalasha, progeny of an ancient Indo-Iranian tribe that has fascinated travelers and mystified anthropologists for centuries. The polytheistic Kalash once thrived in the fertile valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains in present-day Pakistan; today, with their distinctive religion and cultural practices under constant threat from Muslim proselytism, the Kalash are among the most endangered peoples in the world.

     
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