Holidays & Traditions of Kazakhstan. Source for this section: http://www.president.kz/ NAURYZ - a holiday of spring, is the most momentous and ancient festivity of Oriental nations. In fact, it is a New Year's Eve according to the ancient Oriental calendar. It has yet another name "Ulys Kuni"("The first day of the New Year") or "Ulystyn uly kuni" ("The great day of the people").
They say that the more you celebrate the Nauryz holiday, the greater your success throughout the year.
When the holiday comes, Kazakhs put on festive clothes, pay visits to each other, and exchange congratulations, best wishes and good luck in the coming year. The festivities are accompanied by widespread merry-making, games, traditional horse-races, and various other activities.
Traditionally they cook and make all sorts of tasty meals during the holidays, symbolizing well-being and abundance in the coming year. The feast is usually served at noon, and is preceded and followed by a prayer in honor of the fore-fathers. At the conclusion of the feast, the eldest of those present gives his blessings (bata) so that prosperity will be with the family.
When Kazakhs celebrate Nauryz, presence of the number seven is essential - it embodies seven days of the week – the time units of universal eternity. In front of aksakals ("white beards"or old men) they put seven bowls with the drink of "Nauryz-kozhe", prepared of seven grades of seven types of cereals.
BERKUTCHI, or “hunting with a golden eagle,” is a tradition that has been practiced for ten centuries. The Kazakh belief is that presenting a fledgling hunting bird to a boy is tantamount to wishing him to be a brave and strong young fellow.
Training a golden eagle is a rare and painstaking art. The bird just caught (photo at left) is being slowly trained to its master (a berkutchi). The man training the bird doesn't sleep for several nights with the bird being subjected to similar discomfort. First, the bird must take food (pieces of raw meat) from its master's hand only. When the eagle gets used to the hunter, its horse and its dog, it undergoes the next phase of training: first it "hunts" stuffed foxes and only after mastering that will it then proceed with real hunting.
Source for this section: http://www.president.kz/
NAURYZ - a holiday of spring, is the most momentous and ancient festivity of Oriental nations. In fact, it is a New Year's Eve according to the ancient Oriental calendar. It has yet another name "Ulys Kuni"("The first day of the New Year") or "Ulystyn uly kuni" ("The great day of the people").
They say that the more you celebrate the Nauryz holiday, the greater your success throughout the year.
When the holiday comes, Kazakhs put on festive clothes, pay visits to each other, and exchange congratulations, best wishes and good luck in the coming year. The festivities are accompanied by widespread merry-making, games, traditional horse-races, and various other activities.
Traditionally they cook and make all sorts of tasty meals during the holidays, symbolizing well-being and abundance in the coming year. The feast is usually served at noon, and is preceded and followed by a prayer in honor of the fore-fathers. At the conclusion of the feast, the eldest of those present gives his blessings (bata) so that prosperity will be with the family.
When Kazakhs celebrate Nauryz, presence of the number seven is essential - it embodies seven days of the week – the time units of universal eternity. In front of aksakals ("white beards"or old men) they put seven bowls with the drink of "Nauryz-kozhe", prepared of seven grades of seven types of cereals.
BERKUTCHI, or “hunting with a golden eagle,” is a tradition that has been practiced for ten centuries. The Kazakh belief is that presenting a fledgling hunting bird to a boy is tantamount to wishing him to be a brave and strong young fellow.
Training a golden eagle is a rare and painstaking art. The bird just caught (photo at left) is being slowly trained to its master (a berkutchi). The man training the bird doesn't sleep for several nights with the bird being subjected to similar discomfort. First, the bird must take food (pieces of raw meat) from its master's hand only. When the eagle gets used to the hunter, its horse and its dog, it undergoes the next phase of training: first it "hunts" stuffed foxes and only after mastering that will it then proceed with real hunting.