Dark Side of the Mountains – Myths & Still Myths

Mountains have some of nature’s most precious bounties to offer for those who wander and long for it. It’s been more than sixteen years that I have wandered in northern Pakistan. Sometimes for scaling a high altitude pass, the other hunting for some of the elusive birds residing in these mountains. Regardless of the purpose and end result, the very notion of traveling to unbeaten destinations, mixing up with the local community, and observing the natural order of things has a transformative impact. There are lessons that you don’t find in the books. There are answers to questions, you haven’t even thought of asking.

Being an adventurer is not just about going out. With time, you long for the unknown and expect the unexpected to happen out there. You develop this strange taste bud to encounter your fears. They say, fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all. If you manage to encounter that, no fear stands tall in front of you. And that’s breaking barriers.

Where these mountains in all their might demand mental and physical endurance, they are most often associated with phantoms and extra-terrestrial entities. A perfect match, great mountains, and ghosts. A notion that if humans don’t live in the mountains, ghosts would. In which case, they might also demand spiritual endurance more than just physical and mental.

encounter the dark side - altimate blog

Go to any community living in midst of mountains, and you will have tons of stories about ghosts, pixies, and fairies. Speaking of which, the one I fancy the most is Jashtaan or Jishtaan. A supernatural being portrayed as a dwarf and humanlike in form, but with pointed ears and a pointed hat. Now some say that it bears a torch and roams around the mountains while others say the flame comes out of his mouth as it breaths. Whatever it is, there have been even more times I witnessed this torch in the mountains than I heard about it.

Jashtaan is a character most commonly quoted by local communities in the Hindukush Range and part of bordering Karakoram Range. For those, who have just started adventuring around, try luring your local camaraderie into telling you about fire giants and chances are, Jashtaan will be the one around your campfire story. Personally, I could never verify its existence, but I witnessed for sure, the most prominent trait of Jashtaan. Almost every time I’ve been in these giant mountain ranges, there was a moment I witnessed this ‘midnight torch bearer’.

So the folklore is, that Jashtaan occupies the Chitrali houses in summer when people are out in their agricultural fields. When the autumn would arrive, a festival called Jashtan Dekeik (Gathering of Jashtans) would be celebrated. It would be announced that Jashtaans may now head towards the warmer south while baked food would be left on roadsides for the migrating Jashtaans. The Pinnacle of the festival would be at nighttime when people would watch the torches move in a line and then disappear suddenly.

Another story around Jashtaan is even more interesting. Though that pertains to one of those shortcuts for wealth that humans of Hindukush have come up with. You get hold of Jashtaan’s hat and it will submit to you. In return, it will lead you to the hidden treasures of these mountains. However, Jashtaan wouldn’t do that willingly and will always be on the look to get back his hat. How would a human be able to do that, I’m sure there must be elders out there who know that. However, I still have to hear about that.

 It makes my day to have witnessed something for which I don’t have any explanation. And Jashtaan or more precisely “midnight torch bearer” is one of those unexplainable sightings. I still remember my first sighting back in 2005 when I was on a fishing trip between the borders of Ghizer Valley and Shandoor. It was a low day in terms of bagging fish. Quite exhausted, we were lying under the open sky enjoying comets and star-filled sky. Suddenly my companion pointed to a mountain and said, “Where is he going at this time?” Seemingly, a torch bearer was traversing the mountain with remarkable speed. It wasn’t a car’s headlights and it wasn’t a trekkers’ head torch and yet, it was a stable light moving at a uniform speed. I immediately recalled the name Jashtaan and quoted the story I heard from one of my Chitrali companions back in the days. He laughed it out and said I was nuts. I kind of felt that way too but I couldn’t take my eyes off it. By all logic, no one at midnight with light and speed of that sort could traverse a mountain. What could it be if not a Jashtaan? He disappeared but not my thoughts and imagination. We however concluded to leave it for tomorrow to look at the mountain in daylight. We woke up for another attempt at spinning but all the time I was looking at the mountain and there was no way a human could traverse that mountain with such a speed. And I thought to myself that’s it, it’s him.

I have then traversed many mountains in Hindukush and almost every time, I witnessed this “midnight torch bearer” but from a distance that couldn’t be approached for any verification or a possible meetup with Jashtaan. I interacted with local communities, encountered wild animals, hunted elusive birds, found precious minerals, and whatnot. But somewhere deep down inside, the adventures haven’t been fulfilling. I guess it’s an encounter with Jashtaan that would make my day in these mountains and maybe then I would be able to call it a fulfilling adventure someday.