A chillum, or chilam, is a straight conical

smoking pipe A smoking pipe, often simply referred to as a pipe, is used to inhale (or taste) the smoke of a burning substance, typically (though not exclusively) used to consume a Psychoactive drug, psychoactive substance; this most commonly refers to a to ...

traditionally made of either clay or a soft stone (such as steatite or

catlinite Catlinite, also called pipestone, is a type of argillite (metamorphosed mudstone), usually brownish-red in color, which occurs in a matrix of Sioux Quartzite. Because it is fine-grained and easily worked, it is prized by Native Americans, prim ...

). It was used popularly in India in the eighteenth century and still often used to smoke

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

. A small stone is often used as a stopper in the stem. The style of pipe spread to Africa, and has been known in the Americas since the 1960s. A chillum pipe is used in

Rastafari Rastafari is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion. There is no central authori ...

rituals.

History

According to Alfred Dunhill, Africans have long employed chillum-style pipes for smoking

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

and later tobacco. Gourds and various horns were often employed while conical bowls were common in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. One of the more famous pipes is an ivory cone pipe once belonging to

Buganda Buganda is a Bantu peoples, Bantu kingdom within Uganda. The kingdom of the Baganda, Baganda people, Buganda is the largest of the List of current non-sovereign African monarchs, traditional kingdoms in present-day East Africa, consisting of Ug ...

monarch King Mtesa. More recently, it has also seen use in sacraments by

Rastafari ceremony

Rastafarian Rastafari is an Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much ...

meetings called "reasoning sessions" and during Grounation Day celebrations, a chillum is used. It is made of a cow's horn or conical wood piece, fitted with a long drawtube giving the smoke time to cool before inhalation. A

bong A bong (also known as a water pipe) is a filtration device generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco, or other herbal substances. In the bong shown in the photo, the smoke flows from the lower port on the left to the upper port on the right ...

-like chillum equipped with a water filtration chamber is sometimes referred to as a

chalice A chalice (from Latin 'cup', taken from the Ancient Greek () 'cup') is a drinking cup raised on a stem with a foot or base. Although it is a technical archaeological term, in modern parlance the word is now used almost exclusively for the ...

. Rastafaris offer thanks and praises to God (referred to as Jah in Rastafari) before

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is combusted, and the resulting smoke is typically inhaled to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream of a person. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, whi ...

the chillum.The Rastafarians by Leonard E. Barrett 1988
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chillum (Pipe) Culture of India Cannabis smoking Cannabis in India Cannabis and religion Drug paraphernalia Pipe smoking Tobacco in India Desi culture

History

Rastafari ceremony

See also

References