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The Chuvash peoples had a holiday of purification. Chuvash holidays

Introduction

1. Holidays of the winter cycle

Holidays of the spring cycle

Holidays of the summer cycle

Holidays of the autumn cycle

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

The rituals and holidays of the Chuvash in the past were closely connected with their pagan religious beliefs and strictly corresponded to the economic and agricultural calendar.

Traditional Chuvash youth holidays and amusements were held at all times of the year. In the spring-summer period, the youth of the entire village, and even several villages, gathered in the open air for round dances uyav (vaya, taka, fluff). In winter, gatherings (larni) were arranged in huts, where the senior owners were temporarily absent. At the gatherings, the girls spun, and with the arrival of the young men, the games began, the participants of the gatherings sang songs, danced, etc. In the middle of winter, the festival of hyor sari (literally - girl's beer) was held. The girls pooled together brewed beer, baked pies, and in one of the houses, together with the young men, arranged a youth feast.

After Christianization, the baptized Chuvash especially celebrated those holidays that coincide in time with the pagan calendar (Christmas with Surkhuri, Shrovetide and Savarni, Trinity with Simek, etc.), accompanying them with both Christian and pagan rites. Under the influence of the church in the life of the Chuvash, patronal holidays became widespread. By the end of the XIX - beginning of the XX century. Christian holidays and rituals in the life of the baptized Chuvash became predominant.

1. Holidays of the winter cycle

Chuvash holiday ritual entertainment

The Chuvash widely practiced a wide variety of rituals that set up all the significant moments in the life of a family, village, in the calendar cycle, in production activities: Surkhuri; Nartukan (nart ?van); TO ?sharni (to? reshchenkke); Kiremet Karti; Ç? varni (Shrovetide); Kal ?m; S?ren; M ?nkun; Aka p ?tti; Akatui; Ç them? to; Uyav; Wyrma; Av ?n; H ÿ cleme; H ÿ To; Nimes; Kiremet Karti.

The ceremonial calendar opened with the holiday of Surkhuri. This is an old Chuvash holiday. In an older version, he had a connection with the worship of tribal spirits - patrons of cattle. Hence the name of the holiday (from "sur ?h yrri" - "sheep spirit"). It was celebrated during the winter solstice, when the day began to arrive. Surkhuri and lasted a whole week. During the celebration, rituals were held to ensure economic success and personal well-being of people, a good harvest and livestock in the new year. On the first day of Surkhuri, the children gathered in groups and went around the village door-to-door. At the same time, they sang songs about the coming of the new year, congratulated fellow villagers on the holiday, invited other guys to join their company. Entering the house, they wished the owners a good offspring of livestock, sang songs with spells, and they, in turn, presented them with food. Later, Surkhuri coincided with the Christian Christmas (Rashtav) and continued until baptism (k? sharny).

One of the holidays of the New Year cycle is nartukan (nart ?van) - common among the Trans-Kama and Ural Chuvash. It began on December 25, on the day of the winter solstice, and lasted a whole week. It corresponds to the holiday of surkhuri - for horsemen and dick with ?ri - grassroots Chuvash.

A new house erected in the past year was chosen for the celebration. So that the owner would not refuse, during the construction of the house, the youth arranged collective assistance (nime) - they worked for free on the removal of building materials and the construction of the house. This house was called nartukan ÿ rche - the house where the nartukan was held.

During the nartukan, the children went sledding down the mountains in the morning. At the same time, special verses were sung - nartukan savvisem. With the onset of twilight over the village, here and there, exclamations were heard: “Nartukana-ah! Nartukan-a!”, i.e. “To Nartukan!”. The guys gathered in groups and, having agreed among themselves, went home to dress up as Christmas grandfathers (nartukan old man?) And Christmas grandmothers (nartukan karch ?To?). The guys dressed up mainly in women's clothes, girls - in men's. After a while, the mummers poured out into the street and began to walk from house to house. Among the mummers one could meet: a Tatar merchant, and a comedian with a bear, and a Mari matchmaker, and a camel with a horse, and a gypsy fortune-teller ... Was the old man leading the procession? with a whip and nartukan karch ?To? with a spinning wheel and a spindle... The guys, first of all, were interested in those houses in which their chosen ones live or guests invited to the holiday nartukan from other villages. On ordinary days it was not customary to enter such houses, but on a holiday this could be done under the cover of masquerade clothes.

The procession began at the predetermined houses. In each hut, with different variations, the following funny scene was played out. A guy dressed as an old woman sat down at the spinning wheel and began to spin. A girl disguised as a wanderer, waving a broomstick, began to scold and reproach, threatened to stick the old woman to the spinning wheel. At the same time, she snatched a bottle of water from one of the escorts and poured water onto the hem of the clothes of those present. All this was done with great humour. In the end, all the mummers began to dance to the music and the noisy accompaniment of the stove damper, rattles. The owners of the house, especially girls, were also invited to the dance. Guys in women's costumes and masks tried to look out for the girls-guests, calling them to a dance ... Having amused the hosts enough, the crowd of mummers with dancing and noise went to another house. Even in the afternoon, the guys, through sisters and relatives, invited all the girls to the house chosen for the holiday. The girls came in their best clothes and sat down along the walls. The best places were given to girls who arrived from other villages. When all the invitees gathered, games, dances and songs began.

Finally, one of the girls reminded that it would be time to go for water and start fortune-telling on the rings. Several guys responded, invited the girls to accompany them to the river. After some persuasion, the girls agreed and left the circle. One of them took a bucket, the other - a towel. The guys took an ax to cut a hole, as well as a bunch of splinters and lit it. By the light of the torches, everyone went to fetch water.

On the river, the guys bought water from the water (shvri) - they threw a silver coin into the hole in the hole. The girls scooped up a bucket of water, threw a ring and a coin into the water, covered the bucket with an embroidered towel, and returned without looking back. At the house, a bucket was handed over to one of the guys, and he, carrying a bucket filled with water on his little finger, brought it into the hut and deftly put it on the place prepared in the middle of the circle. Then one of the girls was chosen as the host. After much persuasion, she agreed and, with a lit candle in her hands, sat down by the bucket. The rest of the girls sat around the bucket, and the guys stood in a circle behind the girls. The presenter checked whether the ring and the coin were in place.

TO ?sharni, (in some places k?reschenkke), is a holiday of the New Year cycle. It was celebrated by the Chuvash youth during the week from Christmas (Rashtav) to baptism. After the introduction of Christianity, it coincided with Russian Christmas time and baptism. This festival originally celebrated the winter solstice.

Word to ?sharni, apparently, only outwardly resembles a Russian baptism (the variant k?reschenkke goes back to it). Literally to ?sharni - “winter week” (cf. Tat.: kysh = “winter”).

For holding to ?sharny young people rented some house and brewed in it the so-called girl's beer (x?p ?ri). To do this, they collected purse from the whole village: malt, hops, flour and everything necessary to treat fellow villagers, as well as guests invited on this occasion from neighboring villages.

The day before the baptism, young girls gathered in this house, brewed beer and cooked pies. In the evening, the whole village, young and old, gathered in the house. The girls first treated the elderly and parents to beer. Having blessed the young for a happy life in the new year, the old people soon went home. The youth spent this evening in amusement. Music and singing sounded all night long, boys and girls danced to ditties. An important place in the celebration of ?sharni were occupied with all kinds of divination about fate. At midnight, when the village was already asleep, several people went to the fields. Here, at the crossroads, covered with blankets, they listened to who would hear what sound. If someone heard the voice of some domestic animal, they said that he would be rich in cattle, but if someone heard the sound of coins, they believed that he would be rich in money. Bell ringing and bagpipe music (sh ?P ?p) predicted a wedding. If these sounds were heard by a guy, then he will certainly get married this year, and if a girl, he will get married. There were many other fortune-telling that night, but young people more often guessed about marriage and marriage. This is explained by the fact that, according to the Chuvash custom, it was during the New Year period that the parents of the young sent matchmakers. During the celebration to ?Mummers walked around the yards. They acted out all sorts of scenes from village life. The mummers certainly visited the house where the youth celebrated to ?sharny. Here they showed various comic skits. However, initially the role of the mummers was to expel evil spirits and hostile forces of the old year from the village. Therefore, in the period from Christmas to baptism, in the evenings, mummers walked with whips and imitated the beating of all strangers.

The next morning came the so-called water baptism (tour ? shiva ann ? kun). On this day, the baptism of the Lord was celebrated - one of the so-called twelfth holidays of the Russian Orthodox Church. This holiday was established in memory of the baptism of Jesus Christ described in the gospel by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.

The winter cycle ended with a holiday Ç? Varni (Maslenitsa), which marked the onset of spring forces in nature. In the design of the holiday, in the content of songs, sentences and rituals, its agrarian nature and the cult of the sun were clearly manifested. To speed up the movement of the sun and the arrival of spring, it was customary to bake pancakes on the holiday, to ride a sleigh around the village in the course of the sun. At the end of Maslenitsa week, they burned an effigy of the “old woman ç? varni" (" ç? varni karch ?ke"). Then came the holiday of honoring the sun ç? Varni (Shrovetide), when they baked pancakes, arranged horseback riding around the village in the sun. At the end of Maslenitsa week, they burned an effigy of the “old woman ç? varni" ( ç? varni karch? To?).

2. Holidays of the spring cycle

and in the spring there was a multi-day feast of sacrifices to the sun, god and dead ancestors m ?nkun (which then coincided with Orthodox Easter), which began with kal ?m kun and ended with ren or virem.

Kal ?m - one of the traditional holidays of the spring ritual cycle, dedicated to the annual commemoration of the deceased ancestors. Unbaptized Chuvash Kalam celebrated before the great day (m ?nkun). The baptized Chuvash have a traditional m ?nkun coincided with the Christian Passover, and kal ?m as a result of this - with Passion Week and Lazarus Saturday. In many places, kalam merged with m ?nkun, and the word itself was preserved only as the name of the first day of Easter.

Since ancient times, many peoples, including our ancestors, celebrated the new year in the spring. The origins of the spring holidays date back to the New Year celebrations. Only later, due to repeated changes in the calendar system, the original spring New Year ritual cycle fell apart, and a number of rituals of this cycle were transferred to Shrovetide ( ç? varni) and holidays of the winter cycle (to ?sharni, surkhuri). Therefore, many of the rituals of these holidays coincide or have an unambiguous meaning.

Chuvash pagan cal ?m started on Wednesday and lasted a whole week until m ?nkuna. The day before feces ?Ma stoked the bath supposedly for the departed ancestors. A special messenger rode to the cemetery on horseback and invited all the dead relatives to wash and take a steam bath. In the bath, the spirits of the deceased relatives were hovered with a broom, after themselves they left water and soap for them. The first day of the holiday was called k? ç? n cal ?m (small cal ?m). On this day, early in the morning, one guy was equipped as a messenger in each house. He rode a horse around all the relatives. On this occasion, the best horse was covered with a patterned blanket. Multi-colored ribbons and brushes were braided into the mane and tail, the horse's tail was tied with a red ribbon, a leather collar with bells and bells was put on his neck. The guy himself was also dressed in the best clothes, a special embroidered scarf with a red woolen fringe was tied around his neck.

Approaching each house, the messenger knocked on the gate three times with a whip, called the hosts out into the street and invited them in verse to “sit under the candles” for the evening. Parents at this time cut some living creatures. In the middle of the courtyard there was usually a specially fenced place m ?n to? l? (the main prayer place).

S?ren is a spring holiday of the lower Chuvash, dedicated to the expulsion of evil spirits from the village. And the very name of the holiday means “exile”. S?ren was held on the eve of the great day (m ?nkun), and in some places also before the summer commemoration of the deceased ancestors - on the eve ç them? The youth walked in groups around the village with rowan rods and, whipping people, buildings, equipment, clothes, drove out evil spirits and the souls of the dead, shouting “s?ren!”. Fellow villagers in each house treated the participants of the ceremony with beer, cheese and eggs. At the end of the nineteenth century. these rituals have disappeared in most Chuvash villages.

On the eve of the holiday, all rural youth, having prepared rattles and rowan rods, gathered at the venerable old man and asked him for blessings for a good deed:

Bless us, grandfather, according to the old custom to celebrate s?ren, ask Tur for mercy and a rich harvest, may he not allow evil spirits, devils to reach us.

The elder answered them:

Good work done, well done. So do not leave the good customs of fathers and grandfathers.

Then the youth asked the elder for land so that they could feed the sheep for at least one night. "0vtsy" in the ritual - children 10-15 years old.

The old man answers them:

I would give you land, but it is dear to me, you do not have enough money.

And how much are you asking for her, grandfather? the guys asked.

For a hundred acres - twelve pairs of hazel grouse, six pairs of rams and three pairs of bulls.

In this allegorical answer, hazel grouse means songs that young people should sing while walking around the village, sheep - eggs, bulls - kalachi, which should be collected by the guys taking part in the ceremony.

Then the old man rolled out a barrel of beer, and as many people gathered here as the yard could accommodate. With such an audience, the old man jokingly interrogated the elected if there was any complaint. The elected officials began to complain about each other: the shepherds guarded the sheep poorly, one of the elected officers took a bribe, embezzled public property ... The old man imposed a punishment on them - a thousand, five hundred or a hundred lashes. The guilty were immediately "punished", and they pretended to be sick. Beer was brought to the sick, and they recovered, began to sing and dance ...

After that, everyone went out to the pasture outside the outskirts, where the whole village gathered.

M ?Nkun is a holiday of meeting the spring new year according to the ancient Chuvash calendar. Name m ?Nkun translates as "great day". It is noteworthy that the pagan East Slavic tribes also called the first day of the spring new year the Great Day. After the spread of Christianity, the Chuvash ?Nkun coincided with Christian Easter.

According to the ancient Chuvash calendar ?Nkun was celebrated on the days of the spring solstice. Chuvash pagans began m ?Nkun on Wednesday and celebrated for a whole week.

On the day of the onset ?Nkun, early in the morning, the children ran out to meet the sunrise on the lawn on the east side of the village. According to the Chuvash, on this day the sun rises dancing, that is, especially solemnly and joyfully. Together with the children, old people also went out to meet the new, young sun. They told the children ancient tales and legends about the struggle of the sun with the evil sorceress Wup ?R. One of these legends tells that during the long winter the sun was constantly attacked by evil spirits sent by the old woman Wup ?r, and they wanted to drag him from heaven to the underworld. The sun appeared less and less in the sky. Then the Chuvash batyrs decided to free the sun from captivity. A squad of good fellows gathered and, having received the blessing of the elders, headed east to rescue the sun. For seven days and seven nights the batyrs fought with the servants of Wup ?and finally defeated them. Wicked Old Woman Woop ?r with a pack of her assistants fled into the dungeon, hid in the possessions of Shuitan.

At the end of the spring sowing, they arranged a family ceremony aka p ?tti (prayer with porridge). When the last furrow remained on the strip and cover the last sown seeds, the head of the family prayed Çÿ lti tour ? about sending down a good harvest. Several spoons of porridge, boiled eggs were buried in a furrow and plowed it.

At the end of the spring field work, the akatuy holiday (the wedding of the plow) was held, associated with the idea of the ancient Chuvash about the marriage of the plow (male) with the earth (female). This holiday combines a number of ceremonies and solemn rituals. In the old Chuvash way of life, akatuy began before going to spring field work and ended after the sowing of spring crops. The name Akatuy is now known to the Chuvash everywhere. However, relatively recently, the riding Chuvashs called this holiday sukhatu (dry “plowing” + tui? “holiday, wedding”), and the grassroots - sapan tui? or sapan (from the Tatar saban "plow"). In the past, akatuy had an exclusively religious and magical character, accompanied by collective prayer. Over time, with the baptism of the Chuvash, it turned into a communal holiday with horse races, wrestling, youth amusements.

The cycle went on ç im?k (festival of the flowering of nature, public commemoration). After the sowing of grain, the time came for waking up (among the lower Chuvashs) and ç in ç e (among the riding Chuvashs), when a ban was imposed on all agricultural work (the land was "pregnant"). It went on for several weeks. It was a time of sacrifices with requests for a rich harvest, the safety of livestock, the health and well-being of the community members. By decision of the gathering, a horse, as well as calves, sheep were slaughtered at a traditional ritual place, a goose or a duck was taken from each yard, and porridge with meat was cooked in several boilers. After the rite of prayer, a joint meal was arranged. It's time to wake up ( ç in ç e) ended with the rite " ç mind ?r chuk ”(prayer for rain) with bathing in water, pouring water on each other.

3. Holidays of the summer cycle

Ç im?k - a summer holiday dedicated to the commemoration of deceased relatives with a visit to cemeteries. Corresponds to the Christian trinity, also called Semik by the Russians, since in Rus' this holiday was celebrated on Thursday of the seventh week after Easter. Chuvash ç im?k goes back to this Russian word.

celebration ç they spread among the Chuvash relatively recently, apparently not earlier than the middle of the eighteenth century. However, many of the rites and rituals of this holiday date back to hoary antiquity. This is explained by the fact that ç they transferred many ceremonial and ritual actions, originally associated with kalam and, in part, with yupa. In the ritual-ritual side of the holiday ç they can be divided into three main lines: ascending to East Slavic paganism, Russian Christianity (in its popular manifestation) and Chuvash paganism.

Despite a later, generally Christian origin, ç it? to widely spread in the life of not only baptized Chuvash, but also pagans. In some places, unbaptized Chuvashs call this day vile tukhn ? kun, i.e. "the day of the exit of the dead (from the graves)". Perhaps this is the old Chuvash name for the holiday, corresponding to the Russian Semik.

Chuvash ç they began seven weeks after Easter, on Thursday before Trinity, ended on Thursday of Trinity week. The first day of this week was called asl ? ç im?k (large semik), and the last one - k? ç? n ç im?k (small semik).

On the eve of asl ? ç to them? To them, women and children went to the forest, tracts and ravines, collected medicinal herbs and roots there. Usually they said: “Seventy and seven types of different herbs must be collected for semik from the edge of seven forests, from the tops of seven ravines.” They returned from the forest with brooms and branches of various trees. These branches were stuck to the windows, gates and doors of buildings. Most often they stuck rowan branches, believing that they protect from evil spirits.

Uyav - the spring-summer period of youth games and round dances. The word uyav literally means "observe" (from uy "observe"). Initially, this word meant simply the observance of traditional ritual life, and later any holiday, any ritual celebration began to be called this way.

In different places, the word uyav has different shades of meaning, and the youth entertainments themselves are held in different ways. Riding Chuvash spent wilting in the interval between m ?nkun and sim?k. Youth games and round dances here began a week after m ?nkun. During the evening, young people gathered outside the outskirts and arranged round dances with dances, dances, and games. At this time, usually young guys got to know their chosen ones better. By the end of the nineteenth century. seasonal youth round dances among riding Chuvashs began to disappear.

The middle-lower Chuvashs usually held large tribal games in uyav. On a certain day, young people from all the daughter villages gathered in the mother village. Next to each mother village in a meadow, near a grove or in a forest clearing, there was a permanent place for holding gatherings of young people, which were called or simply in ?th ? - « games”, or fluff, tapa - “gathering, assembly”. On tapa day or in ?th ? in such a place a bench for musicians was arranged. In treeless places near the bench, several freshly cut trees were dug in and decorated with multi-colored ribbons. Toward noon, young people gathered at this place. Dealers in sweets, small goods, and toys also came. Music played throughout the day until late at night. Musicians gathered from all over the area played in turn. At the same time, several violinists, bubble players, harp players, harmonists, drummers-percussionists performed. This large orchestra was always crowded with guys who played along on wooden pipes, metal and clay whistles, metal triangles.

Ç in ç e - the traditional pre-Christian ritual cycle, dedicated to the time of the summer solstice. This agricultural holiday corresponds to the Russian holiday, known as "Earth - Mother's Birthday" or "Spirits Day".

In the old days, the Chuvash calendar was monitored by elderly, wise people. Before the advent of tear-off calendars, the Chuvash used self-made wooden solar calendars, which quite accurately showed months, weeks, days, longitude of the day, and even hours and minutes. When the length of the day reached 17 hours, the venerable elders announced to the whole village that from such and such a day begins ç in ç e. It was celebrated for 12 days and coincided with the time of the flowering of rye. Ç in ç It was not accompanied by special ritual celebrations. This is more likely not even a holiday, but a period of rest and observance of the peace of Mother Earth, which at that time was considered burdened by a ripe harvest. During ç in ç It was strictly forbidden to disturb the earth in any way: it was forbidden to plow, sow, dig the earth, take out manure, throw heavy things on the ground, cut wood, build houses, climb trees and buildings.

4. Holidays of the autumn cycle

Vyrma is harvesting, harvesting. In the old days, bread was harvested by hand - reaped with sickles. It was an exhausting and difficult, at the same time, a very responsible period in the annual labor cycle of a peasant. Bread - the crown of all the labors of the farmer - is already felt real, weighty at the harvest, and not only in dreams. Even a small handful of rye stems cut with a sickle is a good slice of bread. And how many such chunks are in a sheaf, in a heap! One of the many labor rituals was ç urla hivni "zazhinok". The most agile woman in the family was untying the sickle, which had been tied up last year with the last handful of rye stalks harvested in the field, and cut off the first handful. She mixed old stems with new ones, scattered them in front of her on a field and said a prayer of thanksgiving to the spirits of the earth: "Hey, ç? rashsh?, ç? r am ?w?! Tawah sire kiv?ren s?nne chiper..."

Av ?n is a polysemantic word. This is “threshing floor, barn, current”, “threshing” and ... “holiday”. This holiday, due to the great importance of threshing bread, was accompanied by many obligatory rituals. He was especially pleasant, solemn for the peasants. The threshing is as exciting a time as the harvest. The barn for drying sheaves, current and threshing on it closed, tied together the annual cycle of field work. From the grain current there is one short road - to the barn and to the mill. But solemnity, true holiness accompanied the grain grower even on this short path. In every little thing, even in the form of bag strings and the creak of carts, a certain magical meaning was seen.

After the harvest, the old people dried the sheaves at night, entertained the youth with fairy tales and jokes, amused themselves - they went to scare each other ... They sorted out large luggage (kapan) and carried the sheaves to the barn (av ?n). They were attached to the cone-shaped skeleton of a barn - shishu with ears up and pulled with a rope so that the sheaves would not fall. In the pit under the sheesh, the old men, making a fire, said a prayer addressed to the spirits of fire:

E, p?sm?lle! Tour ?, ç yrlakh! bjp ? Wut ashsh?, yr ? Woot ama! bjp ? exp ?nta larsa tarasarinchch?. M ?n kapana passa av ?on the hut ?m ?r, av ?n pereketne parasarinchch?. Av ?nashne wut hut ?m ?r - wut ?run-to ?vartan, sikse ÿ kes h?m?nchen vitse sykhlasa tarasarinchch?. Yr ? Woot ama! Pir? n? ç? m?re es? right, es? dry t ?rsamchch?! (Praise the name of God! Have mercy on us, God! Sacred spirit Father of fire, sacred Mother of fire! We wish you to stay in a good place. We dismantled a large load and laid out sheaves on a sheep cone. Turn away the evil fiery force, protect and save from a crazy spark. Mother of fire, guard and preserve our labors!).

H ÿ kleme - a rite of consecration of the new harvest by sacrificing to the spirits of nature, dead ancestors, accompanied by a treat for all relatives. In late autumn, after the completion of threshing, the Chuvash peasants carefully sorted and distributed the grain: the best - for seeds, the worst - for livestock feed, and this - for flour. The batch destined for flour was dried in barns or ovens and taken to the mill. The eldest woman in the house brewed the malt, germinated the grains, sprinkling them several times from a fresh broom, malted and stirred it. The malt was then taken to a community malthouse to dry. Old people, teenagers, children gathered at the malt house. Here they told different stories, legends, fairy tales. Overnight on a malt barn (salad av ?n?) was remembered by children for life. The finished malt, along with the grain, was taken to the mill. The mill, like the malt house, was a kind of club in the Chuvash life, a place of communication, the focus of news, disputes, and legends. The mill completed a long and sometimes very risky journey of grain. The peasant returned from the mill with a feeling of great satisfaction, full of pride in the results of his hard year-round work. Now you can enjoy the fruits of your labor. It was not for nothing that the Chuvashs said: “From the mill, even a crappy horse returns dancing.” Flour was poured into a special wooden chest in the barn. She acted at the full disposal of the mistress of the house.

Preparing for the ceremony ÿ cleme, the hostess brewed beer from new malt. It took about two weeks to prepare the malt, the brewing of the wort took one and a half to two days. The finished wort was poured into oak barrels and placed in cellars. There it wandered for three or four days. The day before ÿ In the evening, the hostess made the dough for the kleme, and kneaded it in the morning. As the oven heats up, the dough rises. The hostess took the dough from the sourdough and began to form loaves.

Conclusion

The cycle of rituals began with a winter holiday asking for a good offspring of livestock - surkhuri (sheep spirit), timed to coincide with the time of the winter solstice. During the festival, children and youth in groups went around the courtyard of the village, entering the house, wished the owners a good offspring of livestock, sang songs with incantations. The hosts presented them with food.

Then came the holiday of honoring the sun savarni (Shrovetide), when they baked pancakes, arranged horseback riding around the village in the sun. At the end of the Maslenitsa week, the effigy of the "old woman savarni" (savarni karchakyo) was burned. At the end of the spring sowing, a family ritual aka patti (prayer with porridge) was held. A few spoons of porridge, boiled eggs were buried in a furrow and plowed it.

At the end of the spring field work, the akatuy holiday was held (literally - the wedding of the plow), associated with the idea of the ancient Chuvash about the marriage of the plow (male) with the earth (female). In the past, akatuy had an exclusively religious and magical character, accompanied by collective prayer.

The completion of the harvesting of bread was celebrated by praying to the guardian spirit of the barn (avan patti). Before the start of consumption of new crop bread, the whole family arranged a prayer-thanksgiving with avan sari beer (literally - sheep beer), for which all dishes were prepared from the new crop. The prayers ended with a feast of avtan yashki (rooster cabbage soup).

Traditional Chuvash youth holidays and amusements were held at all times of the year. By the end of the XIX - beginning of the XX century. Christian holidays and rituals in the life of the baptized Chuvash became predominant.

List of used literature

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Osipova N. Yu. Holidays and calendar rituals / N. Yu. Osipova; VG Koshkin / / Youth and cooperation - 2006: abstracts of the XXX final student scientific conference dedicated to the 175th anniversary of consumer cooperation in Russia. - Cheboksary, 2006. - S. 232.

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Sorokin V. The holiday of the plow and land - Akatuy: [was held in the Yadrinsky and Batyrevsky regions of the Chuvash Republic] / V. Sorokin, M. Vansyatsky / / Russian cooperation. - 17/7/2008. - N 27. - S. 8.

Stasova M. Holiday of devotees: / M. Stasova / / Soviet Chuvashia. - 27/3/2008. - N 57/58. - S. 2.

Chuvashia. By cities and towns: an illustrated edition for the 80th anniversary of the Chuvash Republic / ed. project I. D. Timofeev-Vutlan, comp. L. M. Kubashina. - Cheboksary: Chuvash. book. publishing house, 2000. - 244 p.

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Calendar of Chuvash holidays for 2017

Kasharni, in some places kereschenkke, is a holiday of the New Year cycle. It was celebrated by the Chuvash youth during the week from Christmas (Rashtav) to Epiphany. After the introduction of Christianity, it coincided with Russian Christmas time and baptism. This festival originally celebrated the winter solstice.

The word kasharni, apparently, only outwardly resembles Russian baptism (the variant kereshchenkke goes back to it). In the literal sense, kasharni is “winter week” (cf. Tat. kysh “winter”). To conduct kasharni, young people hired some kind of house and brewed the so-called girlish beer (hyor sari) in it. case from neighboring villages.

During the celebration of kasharni, mummers walked around the yards. They acted out all sorts of scenes from village life. The mummers certainly visited the house, where the youth celebrated kasharni. Here they showed various comic skits. However, initially the role of the mummers was to expel evil spirits and hostile forces of the old year from the village. Therefore, in the period from Christmas to baptism, in the evenings, mummers walked with whips and imitated the beating of all strangers. The next morning came the so-called water baptism (tura shiva anna kun). On this day, the Epiphany of the Lord is celebrated - one of the so-called twelfth holidays of the Russian Orthodox Church. This holiday was established in memory of the baptism of Jesus Christ described in the Gospel by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.

Savarni

Savarni - a cheerful holiday of seeing off winter and meeting spring, corresponds to the Russian Shrovetide. The word "savarni" itself is a translation (tracing paper) of Rus. butter week sous erni). The celebration of savarni was timed to coincide with the period of the spring equinox and began on Thursday. For most Chuvashs, the savarni lasted two weeks. The first week was called asla savarni - "big Shrovetide", and the second - kesen savarni "small Shrovetide". Later, due to the spread of Christianity, the Chuvash savarni coincided with the Russian Maslenitsa, and they began to celebrate it for one week from Sunday to Sunday.

During the savarny in the villages, young people organized horse riding, hung with bells and bells, decorated with scarves and towels. The children rode down the mountains on a sled.

The holiday was opened by children. Everyone tried to get to the hill as early as possible, where Maslenitsa celebrations were traditionally held. The one who was the first to lay the sleigh path was called in the village “opening the way to spring waters” (shyv sule usakan), he enjoyed universal respect, He, as the most agile of all the guys, was trusted to start the spring sowing.

Riding from the mountains bore the allegorical name "Sersi uri husni" (lit. "breaking sparrow's legs"). Each of the guys at the first descent from the mountain poured hemp seeds and said: “Let flax and hemp be long this year!”

Kalam - farewell to the old year

Kalam is one of the traditional holidays of the spring ritual cycle, dedicated to the annual commemoration of the deceased ancestors. Unbaptized Chuvash kalam celebrated before the great day (mankun). Among the baptized Chuvashs, the traditional mankun coincided with Christian Easter, and as a result, kalam coincided with Holy Week and Lazarus Saturday. In many places, kalam merged with mankun, and the word itself was preserved only as the name of the first day of Passover.

Since ancient times, many peoples, including our ancestors, celebrated the new year in the spring. The origins of the spring holidays go back to the New Year celebrations. Only later, due to repeated changes in the calendar system, the original spring New Year's ritual cycle broke up, and a number of rituals of this cycle were transferred to Shrovetide (savarni) and holidays of the winter cycle (kasharni, surkhuri). Therefore, many of the rituals of these holidays coincide or have an unambiguous meaning.

The Chuvash pagan kalam began on Wednesday and lasted a whole week until mankun. On the eve of the kalam, a bathhouse was stoked, supposedly for the departed ancestors. A special messenger rode to the cemetery on horseback and invited all the dead relatives to wash and take a steam bath. In the bath, the spirits of the deceased relatives were hovered with a broom, after themselves they left water and soap for them.

The first day of the holiday was called kyo9yon kalam (small kalam). On this day, early in the morning, one guy was equipped as a messenger in each house. He rode a horse around all the relatives. On this occasion, the best horse was covered with a patterned blanket. Multi-colored ribbons and brushes were braided into the mane and tail, the horse's tail was tied with a red ribbon, a leather collar with bells and bells was put on his neck. The guy himself was also dressed in the best clothes, a special embroidered scarf with a red woolen fringe was tied around his neck.

Approaching each house, the messenger thrice banged on the gate with a whip, called the hosts out into the street and invited them in verse to “sit under the candles” for the evening.

Parents at this time cut some living creatures. In the middle of the courtyard there was usually a specially fenced place mankele (the main prayer place).

Mankun - "The Great Day"

Mankun is a celebration of the meeting of the spring new year according to the ancient Chuvash calendar. The name mankun translates as "great day". It is noteworthy that the pagan East Slavic tribes also called the first day of the spring new year the Great Day. After the spread of Christianity, the Chuvash mankun coincided with Christian Easter. According to the ancient Chuvash calendar, mankun was celebrated on the days of the spring solstice. Pagan Chuvashs started mankun on Wednesday and celebrated for a whole week.

On the day of the advance of the mankun, early in the morning, the children ran out to meet the sunrise on the lawn on the east side of the village. According to the Chuvash, on this day the sun rises dancing, that is, especially solemnly and joyfully. Together with the children, old people also went out to meet the new, young sun. They told the children ancient tales and legends about the struggle of the sun with the evil sorceress Vupar. One of these legends tells that during the long winter, evil spirits sent by the old woman Wupar constantly attacked the sun and wanted to drag it from heaven to the underworld. The sun appeared less and less in the sky. Then the Chuvash batyrs decided to free the sun from captivity. A squad of good fellows gathered and, having received the blessing of the elders, headed east to rescue the sun. For seven days and seven nights the batyrs fought with the servants of Wupar and finally defeated them. The evil old woman Wupar with a pack of her assistants ran away to the dungeon and hid in the possessions of Shuitan.

With the sunrise, people climbed to the tops of the sacred mountains and prayed for prosperity and harvest.

Kherlesyr (flood)

In ancient times, there was another curious holiday associated with the natural cycle - Red Hill, near the Chuvash Kherlesyr (red coast). The holiday is held during the flood period on a beautiful hill above the river, called Kherlesyr.

Another esoteric meaning of the Chuvash concept of the expression kherlesyr is a red line. A feature of the transition from the world of the absolute to the material world, a feature of the materialization of spiritual energy.

Kurak (time of appearance of the first grass)

In early April, there was a ceremony of collecting the first edible herbs, from which various dishes were prepared, including the national dish salmu soup.

In the old days it happened like this. In the early morning, girls and boys went to the fields and the forest with the first spring grasses and flowers. It was customary to meet the sunrise already at the place where the flowers were collected. Then the young men began competitions in strength and dexterity. The girls competed in dancing and singing. Then, spreading tablecloths on the grass, they dined with dishes brought from home. In the evening, with music, singing, herbs with bouquets of flowers, they returned home.

Akatuy - the beginning of the agricultural cycle of the Chuvash festivities (the day of the first ritual furrow)

One of the oldest agricultural holidays. They prepared in advance for the exit to the akatuy, washed themselves in a bathhouse, put on clean festive clothes. Light clothes were a sign of sacred purity. In ancient times, women accompanied the solemn procession and treated everyone to bread and beer. The people who made the furrow were showered with clods of earth. During the "wedding of the field" the horns of a bull plowing were decorated with bread, red shreds, and a red tourniquet from the horn to the neck.

The national emblem, flag and anthem played an important role in the development of the Chuvash statehood and embody the enduring values of the centuries-old history of the Chuvash people.

Since 2004, a glorious holiday has been celebrated in Chuvashia - the Day of State Symbols of the Chuvash Republic. http://www.rba.ru/content/news/vid_news_str.php?id=1888

Since is a semantic analogue of vyav, as a time of inaction. Sinse (thin, pampered - Chuv. (time of rest)) is not a holiday, but a ritualized period after the completion of field work (the time when rye sown in autumn begins to ear) and until June 19, when it was forbidden to disturb the earth and the surrounding nature in any way. In since, people walked only in bright festive clothes, and, if possible, did nothing, as they were afraid to harm young sprouts, hatching chicks and cubs of the animal world. If any festivities were held, then the nature of the dance was as soft as possible, screams and trampling were not allowed.

Thus, uyav carries a meaning that is equivalent to since, the time of inactivity, but at the same time its meaning is much broader - it is the time of celebration and weddings.

Uyav begins with the rite of sacrifice for the ichuk. Ichuk is not a ritual and not a deity, it is a place for a ceremony dedicated to a god. On the bank of the river was a clean beautiful lawn. Here were located 5 places for boilers, in which five sacrificial animals were boiled. This sacrifice was intended for the god Tura and the main principles of the universe. Here everyone was allowed to gather to make noise and have fun, but only in a kind way.

Before the ceremony on the ichuk, going down to the river, they wash their face (rite of purification). Then the ceremony of kalam hyvsa (sacrifice) takes place with a libation of sacrificial beer. After the ceremony, they return home without looking back.

In the old days, “during the spring holiday Uyav, the Chuvash king (patsha), according to legend, traveled around his possessions, met with his subjects. A banner fluttered on a high pole, and the Chuvash communities hung out a surpan (a white women's headband with embroideries). The king accepted gifts from the community members. During the meeting with the king, prayers, games with songs and dances were held.

In recent years, due to the loss of understanding of the meaning of Uyav, they began to mix it with the holiday of the first furrow - akatuem.

June 24 Capital - Cheboksary On June 24, Chuvashia celebrates its main national holiday - Republic Day. It was established in 1995 in connection with the 75th anniversary of the formation of the Chuvash Autonomous Region. On May 4, 2000, the head of the Republic, Nikolai Fedorov, taking into account the historical significance of this event for the formation of the Chuvash statehood, signed a law that approved June 24 as a public holiday.

According to the established tradition, on the eve of the Day of the Republic, in all regions of Chuvashia, the Akatuy and Sabantuy holidays are also held, dedicated to the completion of spring field work. In the Republic, this day is a day off and is full of festive events. Every year, among the municipalities of Chuvashia, competitions are held for the right to become the main platform for the Day of the Republic.

In the winning settlement, along with the capital - the city of Cheboksary - the main events are held. On June 23-24, various sports competitions, cultural events, festivals and concerts, theatrical performances and processions, numerous thematic exhibitions are held in the regions and cities of the republic, festive expositions are arranged in museums.

The commissioning of new facilities is usually timed to the Republic Day: roads, schools, hospitals, cultural institutions, sports facilities. On holidays, dozens of festivals, theatrical performances and concerts of the republican and all-Russian levels are held at the main venues. The most famous of them are the All-Russian Festival of Folk Art "Springs of Russia" and the All-Russian Competition of Masters of Decorative and Applied Art "Craftsman's Rus'". Both festivals in 2012 were jubilee: Springs of Russia celebrated its 20th anniversary, and "Craftsman's Rus" was held for the tenth time.

Since 2011, as part of the Republic Day celebrations, the All-Russian Festival-Marathon "Songs of Russia" has been held, the author and director of which is Nadezhda Babkina. During the week, the festival participants perform in the cities of the republic, and on the day of the holiday the festival ends with a gala concert in Cheboksary. Also on this day, numerous sports competitions are held in Cheboksary: championships of the republic in streetball, kettlebell lifting, tug of war, arm wrestling, beach volleyball, archery, darts, football. In addition to popular sports on Republic Day, you can also see very unusual competitions, for example, the tournament of peasant horses "Kamaev Field Horses", the republican tournament in the Chuvash national wrestling "keresh", the sports day of teams from rural settlements, demonstration performances of ultralight aviation teams. City Day in Cheboksary celebrated on the third Sunday of August.

Source: http://www.calend.ru/holidays/0/0/3010/

Simek

Simek is a summer holiday dedicated to the commemoration of deceased relatives with a visit to cemeteries. Corresponds to the Christian Trinity, also called Semik by the Russians, since in Rus' this holiday was celebrated on Thursday of the seventh week after Easter. The Chuvash simek goes back to this Russian word.

The celebration of simek among the Chuvash spread relatively recently, apparently not earlier than the middle of the 18th century. However, many of the rites and rituals of this holiday date back to hoary antiquity. This is explained by the fact that many ritual and ritual actions, originally associated with kalas and, partly, with yupa, were transferred to simek. In the ritual and ritual side of the Simek holiday, three main lines can be distinguished: ascending to East Slavic paganism, Russian Christianity (in its popular manifestation) and Chuvash paganism.

Despite the later, generally Christian origin, simek was widely spread in the life of not only baptized Chuvashs, but also pagans. In some places, unbaptized Chuvash people call this day vile tukhna kun, i.e., "the day of the departed (from the graves)". Perhaps this is the old Chuvash name for the holiday, corresponding to the Russian Semik.

The Chuvash simek began seven weeks after Easter, on the Thursday before the Trinity, ended on the Thursday of the Trinity week. The first day of this week was called asla simek (large semik), and the last day was called kyosyon simek (small semik).

On the eve of asla simek, women and children went to the forest, tracts and ravines, collected medicinal herbs and roots there. Usually they said: “Seventy and seven types of different herbs must be collected for semik from the edge of seven forests, from the tops of seven ravines.” They returned from the forest with brooms and branches of various trees. These branches were stuck to the windows, gates and doors of buildings. Most often they stuck rowan branches, believing that they protect from evil spirits.

Manchuk

Manchuk or pysakchuk (chuksurtri) is celebrated 2 weeks after simek during the period of bread ripening. Manchuk (uchuk) - A great sacrifice, not a holiday, there are no folk festivals here. It was held at the sacred place ichuk once every 9 years. The rite was called Turatarakanchukles. A white bull and accompanying animals were sacrificed - horses, geese, etc. The participants of the ritual gave thanks for the nine-year harvest of Tur. Young people were not allowed to participate in the ceremony.

Before the ceremony, they fasted for three days, did not drink or smoke. The next day after the rite of purification of the serens, a large detachment of horsemen gathered in the villages and drove out the unclean and alien from the villages, making a noise with shouts and mallets. At this time, “meetings of clergymen were organized, at which issues of holding traditional prayers were discussed.

Ilene

Ilene is a delight. Ritual sacrifice, which marks the end of the summer period and the beginning of the winter.

In August-September, beekeepers, after removing honey, arranged their feasts with prayers as a token of gratitude to God.

Chykleme

The holiday-consecration of the new harvest - Chykleme was held on the day of the autumn solstice as the completion of the annual cycle of economic activity of farmers. Preparing for the holiday, they baked bread, brewed beer from new malt. The villagers gathered in the house of the inviter. Before the beginning of the prayer, they sang standing, turning to the east, the ancient Chuvash hymn of farmers:

Alrancaimi aki suhi

Asran kaymi atti-anni!

Turaran-Pulehrenasli souk,

Atti-anninchenpahi bitches!

From the hands of a plow-plow that is not released,

Father-mother not leaving memory!

Tura-Pulekha is not older,

There is no greater father or mother!

Having invited relatives, they hold a short prayer and treat them to beer. They are especially strictly monitored when offering a “love” ladle of savash kurki. It must be drunk to the bottom, without talking and without stopping. Otherwise, the guest faces a fine in the form of three more ladles of beer. The second ladle brings "harrow" - syre triggers.

Kepe (first snow fall)

Obviously, the celebration of Kepe was timed to coincide with the fall of the first snow. It was believed that from this time winter colds begin. On this day, all relatives gathered at one of the relatives, performed rituals related to preparation for winter.

Day of Set - the destructive beginning. The shortest day of the year. This day was considered the time of rampant dark forces. On this day, prayers to household spirits take place. A goose is sacrificed.

One of the holidays of the New Year cycle - nartukan (nartavan) - is common among the Trans-Kama and Ural Chuvash. It began on December 25, on the day of the winter solstice, and lasted a whole week. It corresponds to the holiday of Surkhuri - among the riding and Khersari - grassroots Chuvash.

During the nartukan, the children went sledding down the mountains in the morning. At the same time, special couplets were sung - nartukansavvisem. With the onset of twilight over the village, here and there, exclamations were heard: “Nartukana-ah! Nartukan-a!”, i.e. “To Nartukan!”. The guys gathered in groups and, having agreed among themselves, went home to dress up as Christmas grandfathers (nartukanstarik) and Christmas grandmothers (nartukankarchake). The guys dressed up mainly in women's clothes, girls - in men's. After a while, the mummers poured out into the street and began to walk from house to house. Among the mummers one could meet: a Tatar merchant, and a comedian with a bear, and a Mari matchmaker, and a camel with a horse, and a gypsy fortune-teller ... They led the procession of an old man with a whip and a nartukankarchake with a spinning wheel and spindle ... Guys, before of all, they were interested in those houses in which their chosen ones live or guests invited to the nartukan holiday from other villages. On ordinary days it was not customary to enter such houses, but on a holiday this could be done under the cover of masquerade clothes.

Let's get acquainted with the holidays and rituals of one of the Russian peoples, namely the Chuvash.

The groom was accompanied to the bride's house by a large wedding train. Meanwhile, the bride said goodbye to her relatives. She was dressed in girl's clothes, covered with a veil. The bride began to cry with lamentations (hyor yorri). The groom's train was met at the gate with bread and salt and beer. After a long and very imaginative poetic monologue of the eldest of the friends (man kyoru), the guests were invited to go into the courtyard at the laid tables. The treat began, greetings, dances and songs of the guests sounded. The next day, the groom's train was leaving. The bride was seated on horseback, or she rode standing in a wagon. The groom hit her three times with a whip to “drive away” the spirits of the wife’s family from the bride (Turkic nomadic tradition). The fun in the groom's house continued with the participation of the bride's relatives. The first wedding night the young people spent in a crate or in another non-residential premises. As usual, the young woman took off her husband's shoes. In the morning, the young woman was dressed in a women's outfit with a women's headdress "hush-pu". First of all, she went to bow and made a sacrifice to the spring, then she began to work around the house, cook food.

Chuvash wedding

The young wife gave birth to her first child with her parents. The umbilical cord was cut: for boys - on an ax handle, for girls - on the handle of a sickle, so that the children would be industrious. In the Chuvash family, the man dominated, but the woman also had authority. Divorces were extremely rare. There was a custom of a minority - the youngest son always remained with his parents, inherited his father. The Chuvash have a traditional custom of arranging help (ni-me) during the construction of houses, outbuildings, and harvesting. In the formation and regulation of the moral and ethical norms of the Chuvash, the public opinion of the village (yal men kapat - "what the fellow villagers will say") has always played an important role. Immodest behavior, foul language, and even more rarely encountered among the Chuvash until the beginning of the 20th century, drunkenness was sharply condemned. theft arranged lynching. From generation to generation, the Chuvash taught each other: "Chavash yatne an sert" (do not shame the name of the Chuvash). Calendar holidays are timed to coincide with the main turning points of the astronomical year - the winter and summer solstice, autumn and spring solstice. In ancient times, the Chuvash the new moon closest to the spring solstice (March 21–22) was considered the beginning of the year. agriculture and spring field work was celebrated as a feast of akatuy, and at the beginning of summer there was a day of commemoration of the dead, similar to the Russian trinity, simĕk. The next important milestone in the ancient calendar was the period of the summer solstice (June 21 - 22). At this time, the peasants asked God for a good harvest, fat cattle, health for themselves. Young people then began to dance, arranged games in the evenings. On the days of the autumn solstice (September 21-22), completing the annual cycle of economic activity, they held family and tribal celebrations chÿkleme. According to pagan ideas, in spring and summer, the forces of goodness and fertility triumph on earth, so all rituals were aimed at maintaining them. In the autumn-winter period, on the contrary, the destructive forces of evil allegedly dominated. Accordingly, all ritual and ceremonial actions were aimed at getting rid of the machinations of evil spirits and other evil spirits. It was believed that their greatest revelry falls on the days of the winter solstice (December 21 - 22). At this time, the Chuvash celebrated surkhuri: they performed ritual actions in order to expel evil spirits and ensure the well-being of society. Until the period of the spring solstice, this struggle between destructive and creative forces continued. Finally, the annual cycle of rituals was completed, the forces of good finally defeated evil.

Everyday rites

In addition to the holidays, the Chuvash perform a number of different rituals associated with everyday life. Let's single out those that are specifically dedicated to beer. Kĕr sări (kĕrkhi săra "autumn beer", kĕr çurti "autumn candle", avtan sări "rooster beer") - a rite of autumn commemoration of ancestors during which the hyvni ritual was performed. It was held during the holiday of Çimĕk and Mănkun. Saltak sări - soldier's beer served at the farewell of a soldier. Săra chÿkĕ - a rite of beer sacrifice on the holiday of chÿkleme in honor of the harvest of the new crop. Relatives are invited. A table is placed at the door, on which bread and cheese are placed. Then the head of the rite invites everyone to stand up and, after praying, drinks beer from a huge ladle (altar). The ladle of beer is passed to the next and the rite is repeated nine times. Săra parne - a treat with beer - a ritual that was held during all the main holidays of the Chuvash. Tui munchi. Beer is brewed three days before the wedding. Relatives gather to the groom and wash in the bath, after which there is a feast. Young people ask the old people for blessings to start the wedding. Ulah - around October 1, until midnight, girls' gatherings are held with a non-alcoholic feast, dancing and games with ulakh guys. Parents of young people at this time treat themselves to beer at home. Khĕr sări - girlish beer. Girl gatherings held in late autumn. Halăkh sări - (folk beer) was held during Mănkun. Women were not allowed to this ceremony. Hops are bought with the money collected from the people or with the proceeds from renting uncomfortable patches of land. People jointly bring products from this and the name of the rite. Several vats were placed in the brewery: a small vat for kiremet, that is, for the remembrance of ancestors, a large one for Tura. Then all the villagers gathered together and drank beer, after which several old men went to the kiremet. After praying at kiremeti, porridge and beer were sacrificed to the ancestors.

drinking beer

Winter solstice

Surkhuri - the beginning of the solar cycle of festivities (December 22). Sur khuri (spit on black) denial of sadness. Another understanding of surkhuri is surakh uri (sheep's leg - Chuv.). The local name for the holiday is nartukan. During this holiday, it was customary to guess. Three days before the holiday, two girls go around the house where there is a daughter, the bride (the successor of the family), the village and collect malt and cereals for beer and porridge. In some empty house, all this is cooked. In the evening, young people celebrate in this house. The next morning, the parents of young people come, mostly fathers. They are seated in a place of honor and are treated in turn to beer, joking songs are sung, and bows are bowed to them. On this holiday, girls went into the barn at nightfall and pulled the sheep by the hind legs in order to ensure their fertility and in order to tell fortunes about the future. The main meaning of the holiday was the end of the solar year (the shortest day of the year) and the birth of a new solar year. Apparently, the meaning of the name of the holiday surkhuri has a sacred meaning and is associated with a sacrifice to the gods in the form of a ham, later - a ladle of beer. The Chuvash associated the constellation Ursa Major with the ladle (altăr - çăltăr Chuv. ladle - constellation). Altăr - in Chuvash, literally "arm holder", it was believed that it was this constellation that points to the polar star.

At the festive table on Surkhuri

In fact, kăsharni or sherni is not an independent holiday, but a part of the holiday, a week after surkhuri. Winter week. During the Chuvash kăsharnikĕr sări girlish beer. Mummers went from house to house and imitated beating all the strangers with a whip. The parents of the young also guessed, they sent matchmakers. the ceremony was performed. Ritually prepared beer is an indispensable attribute of any Chuvash ceremony. And this holiday is no exception. Ordinary beer differs from ritual beer by the observance of a certain rite and the recitation of prayers during its preparation. Kăsharni is the week after December 21st, the date of the winter solstice.

Since the year was divided into only two seasons, çăvarni is a celebration of the meeting of the summer period of the year. “It consists of two parts aslă “older” and kĕçĕn “younger” çăvarni. On the older Shrove Tuesday, a sacral part was held, on the younger one - sleigh rides. On Shrovetide, they rode from the Mount of Olives and rode a sleigh pulled by horses. On the eve of the aslă çăvarni of the “senior butter-house”, a ceremony was held to commemorate the ancestors. In the descriptions of V.K. Magnitsky in the Yadrinsky district, on the eve of Shrovetide Sunday, they put a straw woman on a hill (a symbol of the harvest?) And in the morning they looked to see if the dog had inherited it around her or if the mice had gnawed it, which was a bad omen (a harbinger of a future bad harvest?). There were rituals of burning winter - a straw woman and making fires. Chÿkleme, thanksgiving to God, goes to Shrovetide, therefore it is called çăvarni chÿkleme. The sequence of beer treats here is as follows. First, they drink chÿkleme kurki (ladle chukleme), then - surăm kurki (ladle in honor of the spirit of Suram), the third - savăsh kurki (love ladle).

On çăvarni

Kallam

Seeing off the old year (March 14 - March 20). Before the celebration of the New Year of the Mănkun Chuvash, a holiday was held to commemorate the ancestors and see off the old year - Kalăm. If we approach strictly, Kalăm is not an independent holiday, but a part of the new year of Mănkun. The celebration lasted for several days. The first day of Kalăm is called "çurta kun" "Candle Day". On this day, the ancestors are commemorated. The day before Mănkun (March 20), a sacrificial ceremony was held at the site of Keremet to the spirits of distant ancestors (khyvni). The rite Kalăm sări “Kalama beer” was performed. Before the commemoration on the next Saturday after death and before the Great Day, the spirits of the ancestors were invited to take a steam bath in the bath after everyone had washed.

On Calam

Mănkun

New Year (from March 21 to April 1). As the sun rose, people climbed to the tops of the sacred mountains and prayed for prosperity and harvest. Mănkun is one of the most important holidays of the ancient world. It lasted 11 days. On the fifth day of Mănkun, prayers were held, a barrel of new beer was poured into the puchlani. During prayers, “nominal” ladles of beer are presented: savash kurki, sÿre kurki. On Măn kun, towels were hung out all over the hut - surpans, as well as on other holidays they went with their barrel of beer and cottage cheese cheesecakes and barley bread to all relatives. during household prayers, they poured a little beer from a ladle and threw pieces of cakes into the fire of the stove. During this holiday, the ceremony of çuraçma (matchmaking) was held. Matchmakers came to visit with their keg of beer.

Riding Chuvashs see off uyav in the interval between mănkun and Zimĕk

Hěrlě çyr (flood)

In ancient times, there was another curious holiday associated with the natural cycle - Red Hill, among the Chuvash Khěrlě çyr (red coast). The holiday is held during the flood period on a beautiful hill above the river, called hěrlě çyr. Another esoteric meaning of the Chuvash concept of the expression hěrlě çyr is a red line. A feature of the transition from the world of the absolute to the material world, a feature of the materialization of spiritual energy.

Kurak (time of appearance of the first grass)

In early April, there was a ceremony of collecting the first edible herbs, from which various dishes were prepared, including the national dish salmu soup. In the old days, this happened as follows. In the early morning, girls and boys went to the fields and the forest with the first spring grasses and flowers. It was customary to meet the sunrise already at the place where the flowers were collected. Then the young men began competitions in strength and dexterity. The girls competed in dancing and singing. Then, spreading tablecloths on the grass, they dined with dishes brought from home. In the evening, with music, singing, herbs with bouquets of flowers, they returned home.

Akatuy

The beginning of the agricultural cycle of Chuvash festivities. (The day of the first ritual furrow) One of the oldest agricultural holidays. They prepared in advance for the exit to Akatui, washed in a bathhouse, put on clean festive clothes. Light-colored clothes were a sign of sacred purity. In ancient times, women accompanied the solemn procession and treated everyone to bread and beer. The people who made the furrow were showered with clods of earth. During the "wedding of the field" the horns of a bull plowing were decorated with bread, red shreds, and a red tourniquet from the horn to the neck.

Zinze is the semantic analogue of yav, as a time of inaction. Zinçe (thin, pampered - Chuv. (rest time)) is not a holiday, but a ritualized period after the completion of field work (the time when rye sown in autumn begins to ear) and until June 19, when it was forbidden to disturb the earth and the surrounding nature in any way. In çinçe, people walked only in bright festive clothes, and, if possible, did nothing, as they were afraid to harm young sprouts, hatching chicks and cubs of the animal world. If any festivities were held, then the nature of the dance was as soft as possible, screams and stomping were not allowed. and weddings. The yav begins with the rite of sacrifice for the ichuk. Ichuk is not a ritual and not a deity, it is a place for a ceremony dedicated to a god. On the bank of the river was a clean beautiful lawn. Here were located 5 places for boilers, in which five sacrificial animals were boiled. This sacrifice was intended for the god Tură and the main principles of the universe. Here it was allowed for everyone to gather to make noise and have fun, but only in a kind way. Before the ceremony on the ichuk, going down to the river, they wash their face (rite of purification). Then the ceremony of kalam hyvsa (sacrifice) takes place with a libation of sacrificial beer. After the ceremony, they return home without looking back. In the old days, “during the spring holiday Uyav, the Chuvash king (patsha), according to legend, traveled around his possessions, met with his subjects. A banner fluttered on a high pole, and the Chuvash communities hung out a surpan (a white women's headband with embroideries). The king accepted gifts from the community members. During the meeting with the king, prayers, games with songs and dances were held. In recent years, due to the loss of understanding of the meaning of Uyav, they began to mix it with the holiday of the first furrow - akatuem.

Ziměk is one of the oldest holidays of mankind, and it began three days after the completion of çinçe. This day is also called vile tukhnă kun “the day of the exit of the dead (from the graves)”. Ziměk began on Friday evening - this is due to the fact that among the Chuvash people the countdown of a new day began in the evening. The next day, after washing in the bath, they put on light festive clothes and after dinner they performed a ritual of sacrifice to the spirits of ancestors (çuraçma khyvni), accompanied by a sacrificial libation and the use of beer specially brewed for religious purposes. The houses were decorated with greenery. A rite of remembrance of the ancestors was held at kiremeti. Kiremet is a place where the sacred tree “the tree of life” usually grows, where the spirits of the ancestors of the people of this area live. In Persian, karamat is good, or from the Greek keram mat "sacred land". At the kiremet, they commemorate the spirits of their ancestors and never commemorate the name of a god. Kiremet - personifies the first firmament with the tree of life on it, along which the souls of newborn children descend and near which the spirits of ancestors concentrate. The Chuvashs worshiped the souls of their ancestors in the cemetery, and only the old people at the kiremet commemorated the spirits of their ancestors. Therefore, there can be no concept of evil or good kiremet. The impact of this place on a person depends on the attitude of his ancestral spirits towards the person. After worship at the kiremeti, people go to the ichuk and perform a kalam khyvsa (sacrifice) there, drawing the attention of the most important forces of nature and the only god of the Chuvash, Tur. After praying, people drink beer. During the commemoration, sacrificial libations are made with beer. Beer for sacrificial libations is prepared subject to certain rituals and prayers. After sacrificial libations, the remaining beer is drunk, and the ladle with which the commemoration was made is broken, leaving it in place. The holiday belongs to the solar cycle, to which the lunar one is subordinate. This is the summer solstice (June 22). In the ancient world, the symbol of çiměk was a swastika rotating against the movement of the sun (like the German fascists. The day marks the beginning of the fading of the sun - the shortening of daytime. After çiměk, Chuvash women went out to round dances. Choirs were preparing for this day at the rehearsals of săvă kalani (singing songs) Thus, until the mid-1950s, between the villages of Chăvăsh Zeprel (Chuvashskoe Drozhzhanoye) and Khaimalu, a choir, consisting of residents of the surrounding villages, gathered at that time. They sang in the canon, and at dusk the sound of the choir could be heard for tens of kilometers around. A fair was held that day in the village of Orbashi, Alikovsky district. Flowers were scattered on the square and dancing began here in the evening. The Chuvash have an opinion that if you dance on çiměk, you won't get sick all year long. It takes from one to seven days to cope with it. Perhaps it was this quality of the holiday that served as the basis for the replacement of the meaning of the festival by Christian missionaries. An altered version of the name of the holiday is interpreted as the seventh week after Orthodox Easter and çiměk is celebrated on the last Thursday before Trinity. Since çiměk symbolizes the beginning of the period of extinction of the light forces of nature, during the commemoration of the dead, three candles were lit on the edge of the dish with dishes in honor of the demon of the underworld hayamat , for his assistant hayamat chavush and for the souls of deceased relatives. On the day of the summer solstice, it was customary to climb to the tops of the mountains and offer prayers for the preservation of the fields from drought and hail. They also performed a purification ceremony - çěr khaphi (earth gate).

Măn chÿk

Or pysăk chÿk (chuk çurtri) is celebrated 2 weeks after winter during the ripening of bread. Măn chÿk (uchuk) - Great sacrifice, not a holiday, there are no festivities here. It was held at the sacred place ichuk once every 9 years. The rite was called Tură tărakan chakles. A white bull and accompanying animals were sacrificed - horses, geese, etc. The participants of the ritual thanked for the nine-year harvest Tură. Young people were not allowed to the ceremony. In the sources, we often find the date of the Great Sacrifice on July 12 (among Christians Peter's Day was appointed on this day), among the Mari this ceremony is called Sÿrem or Kyoső. Before the ceremony, they fasted for three days, did not drink and did not smoke. The next day after the rite of purification of the sĕren, a large detachment of horsemen gathered in the villages and drove out the unclean and alien from the villages, making a noise with shouts and mallets. At this time, “meetings of clergymen were organized, at which issues of holding traditional prayers were discussed.

Ilene is a delight. Ritual sacrifice, which marks the end of the summer period and the beginning of the winter period. In August - September, after the removal of honey, beekeepers arranged their feasts with prayers as a token of gratitude to God.

The holiday-consecration of the new harvest - Chÿkleme was held on the day of the autumn solstice as the completion of the annual cycle of economic activities of farmers. In preparation for the holiday, they baked bread, brewed beer from new malt. The villagers gathered in the house of the inviter. Before the start of the prayer, they sang standing, turning to the east, the ancient Chuvash hymn of farmers. Having invited relatives, they hold a short prayer and treat them to beer. They are especially strictly monitored when offering a “love” ladle of savash kurki. It must be drunk to the bottom, without talking and without stopping. Otherwise, the guest faces a fine in the form of three more ladles of beer. The second ladle brings "harrow" - sÿre triggers.

Kěpe (falling of the first snow)

Obviously, the celebration of Kĕpe was timed to coincide with the fall of the first snow. It was believed that from this time winter colds begin. On this day, all relatives gathered at one of the relatives, performed rituals related to preparation for winter.

Yupa (November)

The month of November is dedicated to ancestors. In ancient Mesopotamia, it was called “the month of the fathers”. This month, stone or wooden pillars are erected on the graves of the dead. After the pillars are erected, the children go around the village in a wagon, inviting them to a commemoration. The rite ends with a treat of beer.

There are almost one and a half million in Russia, they are the fifth largest people in our country.

What do the Chuvash people do, their traditional activities

Plowed agriculture has long played a leading role in the traditional economy of the Chuvash. They cultivated rye (the main food crop), spelt, oats, barley, buckwheat, millet, peas, hemp, and flax. Horticulture was developed, onions, cabbage, carrots, rutabaga, and turnips were planted. From the middle of the 19th century, potatoes began to spread.

The Chuvash have long been famous for their ability to cultivate hops, which they also sold to neighboring peoples. Historians note that back in the 18th century, many peasants had capitally built, with oak pillars, field hop farms. At the beginning of the 20th century, wealthy owners got their own dryers, presses for obtaining hop briquettes, and instead of traditional, only slightly cultivated varieties, more productive varieties are introduced - Bavarian, Bohemian, Swiss.

In second place in importance was animal husbandry - they bred large and small cattle, horses, pigs, poultry. They were also engaged in hunting, fishing, beekeeping.

Of handicrafts, woodworking was mainly widespread: wheel, cooperage, carpentry. There were carpenters, tailors and other artels. Many carpenters in coastal villages were engaged in the manufacture of boats and small boats. On this basis, at the beginning of the 20th century, small enterprises arose (the cities of Kozlovka and Mariinsky Posad), where they built not only boats, but also schooners for the Caspian trades.

Of the crafts, pottery, basket weaving, and wood carving were developed. Utensils (especially beer ladles), furniture, gate posts, cornices, and architraves were decorated with carvings.

Until the 17th century, there were many metalworking specialists among the Chuvash. However, after the ban on foreigners to engage in this craft, even at the beginning of the 20th century, there were almost no blacksmiths among the Chuvash.

Chuvash women were engaged in the manufacture of canvas, dyeing of fabric, sewing clothes for all family members. Clothes were decorated with embroidery, beads and coins. Chuvash embroidery of the 17th-19th centuries is considered one of the pinnacles of folk culture, distinguished by symbolism, a variety of forms, restrained brilliance, high artistic taste of craftswomen, and precision of execution. A feature of Chuvash embroidery is the same pattern on both sides of the fabric. Today, modern products using the traditions of national embroidery are made at the enterprises of the association "Paha teryo" (Wonderful embroidery).

By the way, the Chuvashs are the most numerous Turkic people, most of which profess Orthodoxy (there are a few groups of Muslim Chuvashs and unbaptized Chuvashs).

One of the most famous ancient holidays associated with agriculture that exists today is. Literally translated as a wedding of arable land, it is associated with the idea of the ancient Chuvash about the marriage of a plow (male) with the earth (female). In the past, Akatuy had an exclusively religious and magical character, accompanied by a collective prayer for a good harvest. With baptism, it turned into a community holiday with horse races, wrestling, and youth amusements.

To this day, the Chuvash have preserved the rite of help - nime. When there is a big and difficult job ahead, which the owners cannot handle on their own, they ask for help from their fellow villagers and relatives. Early in the morning, the owner of the family or a specially selected person goes around the village, inviting them to work. As a rule, everyone who hears the invitation goes to help with tools. Work is in full swing all day, and in the evening the owners arrange a festive feast.

Traditional elements are also preserved in family rituals associated with the main moments of a person's life in the family: the birth of a child, marriage, departure to another world. For example, the Riding Chuvash had such a custom in the last century - if children died in the family, then the next one (regardless of the name given at baptism) was called the name of birds or wild animals - Chokeç(Martin), Kashkar(Wolf) and so on. They tried to make it a false name that was fixed in everyday life. It was believed that in this way they would deceive evil spirits, the child would not die, and the family would be preserved.

Chuvash wedding ceremonies were distinguished by great complexity and variety. The full ritual took several weeks, consisted of matchmaking, pre-wedding ceremonies, the wedding itself (and it took place both in the house of the bride and the groom), post-wedding ceremonies. A specially selected man from the groom's relatives followed the order. Now the wedding has been somewhat simplified, but the main traditional elements have been retained. For example, such as "buying out the gate" at the entrance to the bride's yard, the bride's lamentation (in some places), the change of the girl's headdress to the headdress of a married woman, the newlywed's walking for water, etc., special wedding songs are also performed.

For the Chuvash, family ties mean a lot. And today, the Chuvash tries to observe the long-established custom, according to which once or twice a year he had to invite all relatives and neighbors to his feast.

Chuvash folk songs usually do not talk about the love of a man and a woman (as in many modern songs), but about love for relatives, for their homeland, for their parents.

In Chuvash families, old parents and father-mothers are treated with love and respect. Word " amash"translated as" mother ", but the Chuvash have special words for their own mother" Anna, api", pronouncing these words, the Chuvash speaks only about his mother. These words are never used in swear words or in ridicule. The Chuvash say about a sense of duty to the mother: "Daily treat your mother with pancakes baked in your palm, and then you will not repay her good for good, work for work."

In the formation and regulation of moral and ethical standards among the Chuvash, public opinion has always played an important role: "What will they say in the village" ( Yal myung poop). The Chuvash treated with special respect the ability to behave with dignity in society. Immodest behavior, foul language, drunkenness, theft were condemned. Young people were especially required in these matters. From generation to generation, the Chuvash taught: "Do not shame the name of the Chuvash" ( Chăvash yatne an çert) .

Elena Zaitseva

Calendar holidays included the winter holiday of asking for a good offspring of livestock, the holiday of honoring the sun (Maslenitsa), the multi-day spring holiday of sacrifices to the sun, the god Tura and ancestors (which then coincided with Orthodox Easter), the holiday of spring plowing (akatuy), the summer holiday of commemoration of the dead. After sowing, sacrifices were carried out, a rite of inducing rain, accompanied by bathing in a pond and dousing with water, after harvesting bread, praying to the spirit - the keeper of the barn, etc.

Akatuy

Akatuy is a Chuvash spring holiday dedicated to agriculture. This holiday combines a number of ceremonies and solemn rituals. In the old Chuvash way of life, akatuy began before going to spring field work and ended after the sowing of spring crops. The name Akatuy is now known to the Chuvash everywhere. However, relatively recently, riding Chuvashs called this holiday Suhat. (dry "plowing" + tuye "holiday, wedding"), and grassroots - sapan tuye or sapan (from the Tatar Saban "plough"). After the great day (mankun), the Chuvashs began to prepare for the spring field work: they repaired agricultural implements, prepared seeds. In the last days of April, before going out to the arable land, they began to prepare for the celebrations on the occasion of field work. For the ritual part of the akatuy, beer is brewed in advance, food supplies are prepared, and eggs are painted. Akatuya celebrations in different houses begin on different days. The holiday lasts a week. Those who have prepared for the holiday on a certain day convene relatives and neighbors. By their arrival, a rich table is laid in the hut. An altar (brother) with beer is placed at the head of the table, in the middle of the table on a special embroidered towel - a dish with a loaf of bread and a circle of cheese. As soon as all the invitees gather, the host appoints one elder who knows the ritual as the leader, and he begins to fulfill his duties. A mug of beer is brought to each of those present, and a piece of edible made from grain and animal products is distributed. Usually it is a slice of kalach with cheese or butter. As soon as the distribution ends, the leader sings the old song "Alran kaimi aki-suhi" (Northing and arable land is our eternal business), and everyone picks up this hymn to agricultural labor. After the completion of the song, under the guidance of the elder, everyone prays, turning, as usual, towards the half-open doors. In the old Chuvash way of life, all the houses in the village were built with doors to the east. Turkic peoples from time immemorial have performed their prayers, turning towards the sunrise. This tradition was held by the Chuvash until the beginning of the 20th century.

In prayers, the Chuvashs asked the Almighty Tur (the main god) and the good spirits of a plentiful harvest subordinate to him, livestock, wealth and health arrived to family members, all relatives, neighbors and acquaintances. After the completion of the prayer, everyone ate their share, drank their mugs and sat down at the table. Here the feast began. A plentiful treat was supposed to contribute to the same plentiful harvest of bread. To complete the ritual part of the Akatuy holiday, each kindred group went out into the winter field. They took with them a loaf of wheat bread, a circle of cheese, eggs, wheat or barley koloboks, pies, sharttan and, of course, beer. All supplies were carried decorously, solemnly. Bread and cheese were carried on a carved plate, and the plate was held in front of them on a richly embroidered ritual towel (selke), a carved bucket of beer (cheres) was also covered with an embroidered towel. All participants in the ritual are in festive attire. Came with a special song designed for the occasion. In the field, everyone sat at the end of the paddock, facing east. The elder relative, addressing the spirits of the earth (ser yyshe), read a prayer and "treated" them with pieces of brought food and beer. Each of those present in honor of the spirits of the earth poured a few drops of beer and scattered crumbs of bread and cheese over the winter wedge.

After the completion of the prayer, the youth began divination with eggs and sticks. The guys threw eggs into the field and watched who broke the egg and who did not. They believed that a whole egg portends a rich harvest of spring bread. In the same way they guessed on sticks. It was considered a bad sign when the stick lies along the line from west to east, that is, in the position in which the dead are buried. After fortune-telling, songs, dances, and fun began in the field. They returned from the field only in the evening. These ceremonies were obligatory for everyone. Violators from the rural society will not live. Everyone believed in the power of the rite, they thought that in this way it was possible to influence the future harvest. Ignoring traditions, according to the Chuvash, brought trouble to the entire rural society, could cause drought, cold or hail. The whole village, having spent the ritual part of the akatuy festival, went out to spring plowing. Each more or less significant stage of spring field work was furnished with a whole series of magical rites, prayers, prohibitions, etc. The opening of the first furrow, the removal of seeds to the field, the beginning of sowing and its completion were especially noted.

At the end of the whole cycle of spring agricultural work, the solemn part of the akatuy holiday was held. In ethnographic literature, the term "akatuy" is often explained as "plow wedding", but this is not entirely true. It would be much more correct to translate "akatuy" as "farming holiday". The whole course of the holiday shows that it is dedicated to the completion of spring field work. For the most solemn final cycle, the Akatuya began to prepare in advance. Youths rode through the streets on horseback. They collected prizes for awarding winners in competitions. The youth rode around the village with a long pole, to which the young women tied their best embroidered towels and woven belts. Others carried wicker bags - pesteri for collecting eggs. In some places, the guys tucked embroidered towels in rows into their belts, so that something like an apron or skirt was formed. Almost every house donated something for akatuy: pieces of cloth, scarves, shirts, towels, eggs, etc. Rich people sometimes donated money for which they bought a ram. Young people prepared horses for participation in the races, generously fed them with oats, others even gave raw eggs. On the eve of the holiday, young people went out on horseback and held trial competitions "to warm up the horses' legs."

For the competitions, a kind of jury was composed of respectable and influential old people, which was recognized not only by the inhabitants of this village, but also by the entire district. On the day of Akatuya, the village took on a festive look, a cheerful animation reigned in the streets. The competition took place in a meadow outside the village. Usually they chose a place next to the river and the forest. Even before noon, the population of the village began to flock to the traditional place for horse racing. Elected elders walked ahead. Together with them, one of the guys rode on horseback, who carried a long pole with a towel tied to the upper end - a kind of emblem of the holiday. Many went to Akatuy on carts, tarantasses. Horses and harness were festively decorated, multi-colored ribbons and tassels of woolen yarn were woven into the manes, the arc was wrapped with a colored cloth or towel. At the edge of the forest, old men, members of the commission, sat down in a place of honor. Near them, a long pole with a towel at the upper end was dug into the ground - akatuy yalave (flag of akatuy). When enough people gathered, competitions began: running, jumping, jumping, wrestling, archery at a target, etc. As a rule, the competitions were started by boys. At first they competed in running half a verst. The winners received up to a dozen eggs. Children were replaced by adults, they ran a distance of one to two miles.

The most popular type of akatuya competition is belt wrestling. A towel is used as a belt. Each wrestler holds a towel in his hands, wrapping it around the opponent's waist. The boys also started wrestling, gradually the turn reached the adults. The fighter who remained undefeated received the title of hero (pattar). He was usually rewarded with a ram. One of the central moments in the competitions of the Akatuy holiday was horse racing for three, five, sometimes up to eight miles. The winners of the races were presented with embroidered towels, prizes were usually tied to the necks of horses. The Akatuy holiday was decorated with various comic competitions such as “running in a bag”, “running on three legs”, “breaking a pot”, “young women with a yoke”, etc. Strength and dexterity were shown in such games as a fight with bags on a log, lifting weights, various kinds of pulling, etc.

After the competition, the youth were divided into several age groups, and each of them started their own games. Boys and girls danced and sang songs. The fun continued until late in the evening. Old people and couples returned to the village immediately after the end of the competition. They invited relatives and acquaintances from neighboring villages to their homes and feasted until late. Neighboring villages usually tried to hold akatuy at different times. Therefore, young people, and even adults, had time to take a walk at several holidays in a row: in their own and neighboring villages. Bogatyrs of several villages participated in wrestling competitions, and thus the champion of the entire district was revealed. Such a pattar enjoyed universal respect.

Among the nomadic peoples in the past, competitions in strength, dexterity and accuracy have very ancient origins. Their meaning is not so much sporting as practical, social. At the tribal competitions held in early spring, the strongest, dexterous and well-aimed men were identified. For the period of seasonal summer migrations, these heroes became the head of the whole clan. The well-being of the entire nomadic community depended on their strength, ingenuity, courage, dexterity and accuracy. Who, apart from such a batyr and his retinue, could save the main wealth of the family - his herd - from numerous enemies in the steppe? Therefore, the heroes (pattar, ulap) became the leaders of the clans (ulput). It is no coincidence that in the Chuvash language the word ulap "hero, giant" and ulput "master", "prince", "dignitary person" of the same root. This suggests that among the distant ancestors of the Chuvash, sports competitions during the holidays of the spring-summer cycle were extremely important. They served as the most democratic and effective way to select the leaders of clans and tribes. Even after the almost complete loss of nomadic traditions, these competitions, as an important means of preserving the well-being of the clan, survived, persisted, and organically became part of the agricultural holidays.

A notable feature of the Akatuy holidays in recent years has been the awarding of best workers, concerts of amateur and professional art groups, competitions in modern sports, traveling trade, etc. poetry of national specificity. Apparently, akatuy should be carried out, trying to preserve all the best from its traditional ritual.

Source: Culture of the Chuvash region. Part I: Study guide /V.P. Ivanov, G.B. Matveev, N.I. Egorov and others / comp. M.I. Skvortsov. - Cheboksary: Chuv. book. Publishing house, 1994. pp. 193 - 197.

Chuvash New Year

A new house erected in the past year was chosen for the celebration. So that the owner would not refuse, during the construction of the house, the youth arranged a collective help (nime) - they worked for free on the removal of building materials and the construction of the house. This house is called nartukan pўrche-house, where nartukan is held.

During the nartukan, children go sledding down the mountains in the morning. At the same time, special couplets-nartukan savvisem are sung. With the onset of dusk over the village, here and there, exclamations are heard: “Nartukan-ah! Nartukan-a!”, i.e. “To Nartukan!” The guys gather in groups and, having agreed among themselves, go home to dress up as Christmas grandfathers (starikyo nartukan) and Christmas grandmothers (karchakyo nartukan). Guys dress up mostly in women's clothes, girls - in men's. After a while, the mummers pour out into the street and begin to walk from house to house. Who is not among the mummers: here is a Tatar merchant, and a comedian with a bear, and a Mari matchmaker, and a camel with a horse, and a gypsy fortune-teller ... The procession is led by an old man's nartukan with a whip and a karchak nartukan with a spinning wheel and spindle... Guys are primarily interested in those houses in which their chosen ones live or guests invited to the holiday nartukan from other villages. On ordinary days, they would never enter these houses, but today it can be done under the cover of masquerade clothes.

The procession begins at the predetermined houses. In each hut, with different variations, the following funny scene is played out. A guy dressed as an old woman sits down at a spinning wheel and starts spinning. A girl disguised as an old man, waving a broomstick, begins to scold and reproach, threatening to stick the old woman to the spinning wheel. Immediately, she snatches a bottle of water from one of the escorts and pours water on the hem of those present. All this is done with great humour. In the end, all the mummers begin to dance to the music and the noisy accompaniment of the stove damper, rattles. The owners of the house, especially girls, are also invited to dance. Guys in women's costumes and masks try to look out for the guest girls, calling them to a dance ... Having amused the hosts enough, the crowd of mummers with dancing and noise goes to another house. Even in the afternoon, the guys, through sisters and relatives, invite all the girls to the house chosen for the holiday. Girls come in their best clothes and sit along the walls. The best places are given to girls who come from other villages. When all the invitees gather, games, dances and songs begin.
Finally, one of the girls reminds that it's time to go for water and start fortune-telling on the rings. Here two guys responded, invited two girls to accompany them to the river. After some persuasion, the girls agree and leave the circle. One of them takes a bucket, the other - a towel. The guys take an ax to cut a hole, as well as a bunch of splinters and light it. By the light of the torches, all four go for water.

On the river, the guys buy water from the water (shivri) - they throw a silver coin into the hole in the hole. The girls scoop up a bucket of water, throw a ring and a coin into the water, cover the bucket with an embroidered towel, and return without looking back. At the house, the bucket is handed over to one of the guys, and he, carrying the bucket filled with water on his little finger, brings it into the hut and deftly places it on the place prepared in the middle of the circle. Then one of the girls is chosen as the host. After much persuasion, she agrees and, with a lit candle in her hands, sits down by the bucket. The rest of the girls sit around the bucket, and the guys stand in a circle behind the girls. The presenter checks whether the ring and the coin are in place.

Baptism - kasharni

Kasharni, in some places kereschenkke, is a holiday of the New Year cycle. It was celebrated by the Chuvash youth during the week from Christmas (Rashtav) to baptism. After the introduction of Christianity, it coincided with Russian Christmas time and baptism. This festival originally celebrated the winter solstice. The word kasharni, apparently, only outwardly resembles Russian baptism (the variant kereshchenkke goes back to it). In the literal sense, kasharni is “winter week” (cf. Tat. kysh “winter”).

To conduct kasharni, young people hired some kind of house and brewed the so-called girlish beer (hyor sari) in it. case from neighboring villages. The day before the baptism, young girls gathered in this house, brewed beer and cooked pies. In the evening, the whole village, young and old, gathered in the house. The girls first treated the elderly and parents to beer. Having blessed the young for a happy life in the new year, the old people soon went home. The youth spent this evening in amusement. Music and singing sounded all night long, boys and girls danced to ditties. An important place in the celebration of kasharni was occupied by all kinds of fortune-telling about fate.

At midnight, when the village was already asleep, several people went to the fields. Here, at the crossroads, covered with blankets, they listened to who would hear what sound. If someone heard the voice of some domestic animal, they said that he would be rich in cattle, but if someone heard the sound of coins, they believed that he would be rich in money. The ringing of the bell and the music of the bagpipes-shapar predicted the wedding. If these sounds were heard by a guy, then he will certainly get married this year, and if a girl, then she will get married. There were many other fortune-telling that night, but young people more often guessed about marriage and marriage. This is understandable, since according to the Chuvash custom, it was during the New Year period that the parents of the young sent matchmakers. During the celebration of kasharni, mummers walked around the yards. They acted out all sorts of scenes from village life. The mummers certainly visited the house, where the youth celebrated kasharni. Here they showed various comic skits. However, initially the role of the mummers was to expel evil spirits and hostile forces of the old year from the village. Therefore, in the period from Christmas to baptism, in the evenings, mummers walked with whips and imitated the beating of all strangers.

The next morning came the so-called water baptism (tura shiva anna kun). On this day, the baptism of the Lord is celebrated - one of the so-called twelfth holidays of the Russian Orthodox Church. This holiday was established in memory of the baptism of Jesus Christ described in the gospel by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.

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