Vardavar
Wardawar ( Armenian Վարդավառ , also Vardavar ; western Armenian Wartawar ) is a festival in Armenia , where people splash each other with water. Vardawar is celebrated exactly 14 weeks (98 days) after Easter Sunday . In addition to Armenia, the festival is also celebrated by various groups in the Turkish districts of Çamlıhemşin and Hemşin .
Names
There are different names for the festival. Wardawar is also known as the "Festival of Transformation". The word Wardawar also has other translations, the origin of which is not certain: “The glow of the rose”, “The splashing with water”, “Rose brandy” or “Fire brandy”. The tradition in Armenia is linked to the feast of the Transfiguration of Christ , which is one of the five feasts of the Armenian Church .
history
In pre-Christian Armenia had the Vardavar Zoroastrian goddess of love and beauty, Astghik dedicated, whose main sanctuary in Aschtischat was. Back then, people sprinkled themselves with rose water or normal water as a sign of inner and outer purity .
Date of the Vardavar in the years:
- 2013: July 7th
- 2014: July 27th
- 2015: July 12th
- 2016: July 3rd
- 2017: July 23
- 2018: July 8th
- 2019: July 28th
literature
- Mardiros H. Ananikian: Armenian Mythology. Chapter 8: Nature Worship and Nature Myths. 3. Water. (The Mythology of All Races. Volume VII) New York 1925
- SH Taqizadeh: The Iranian Festivals Adopted by the Christians and Condemned by the Jews. In: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Vol. 10, No. 3, University of London, 1940, pp. 632-653
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Tessa Hofmann : Approaching Armenia: Past and Present. CH Beck, Munich 2006, p. 210