In valleys where a poor harvest once meant hunger, the ripening of the first crop was a moment for thanks. Ginani is Hunza's harvest festival, opening the season of reaping. Its equivalents are found across the region: Ganoni in Gilgit, Strublah in Baltistan, and Chineer in the Wakhi villages of Gojal.
When and where
Ginani falls in early summer, traditionally when the first crop is ready; writing in 1880, John Biddulph noted that the day was fixed according to the state of the crop. In recent years it has been held in June or July. Its centre is Baltit Fort in Karimabad, with celebrations also reported in Altit and Aliabad, in Nagar, and – as Chineer – in Gojal.
The first grain
Biddulph's account of the harvest festival in Gilgit and the neighbouring valleys describes days of dancing beforehand; on the eve, each household quietly gathered a handful of ears of grain, hung some over the door, and roasted the rest to eat the next morning soaked in milk. Harvesting began the day after, and eating the new grain before the festival was thought to bring bad luck.
In Hunza, the festival was led by the Mir. Accounts describe music played at the forts in the days before, the Mir visiting the fields, the new grain cooked and shared, and dancing led by the Mir and followed by the clans in turn. Barley, once the first crop to ripen, was central to the old rites, though it is rarely grown in Hunza today.
Ginani today
After the end of princely rule in the 1970s, Ginani lapsed, and it was revived in the early 2000s as part of a community effort to keep the valley's festivals alive. In recent celebrations, the titular Mir, Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan, wearing the royal dress of his father, performs the rituals with his family in a field below Baltit Fort, followed by music and dances in the fort's courtyard. In Gojal, Chineer takes its name from a dish cooked on the festival morning and shared with family and friends, with prayers, dances and Wakhi songs.
In 2016, Ginani was held formally in Nagar for the first time in around thirty years.
Visiting
Ginani is one of the more accessible festivals in the north: Karimabad is easy to reach in summer, and recent celebrations at Baltit Fort have welcomed visitors from Pakistan and abroad. Dates vary each year, so check before you plan.
