Interesting here !!! “Customs and traditions of the peoples of Dagestan How to make an offer to a girl in Dagestan.

When the newlyweds are planning to hold a themed wedding, a large selection of traditions of different nations is revealed to them. This allows you to create a holiday that is unusual for most of your friends.

The more unusual the bride and groom want to see their triumph, the more time the chosen national culture should be historically isolated from the main world religions. Then the holidays will contain most of all local customs and rituals. Dagestan weddings can be attributed to these, because part of the population lives in mountainous regions, which is why its natural isolation occurs.

In Dagestan, the word of parents still means a lot to children. Therefore, the obligatory pre-wedding stage is the sending of matchmakers. There are 2 traditions in this area:

1. Engagement matchmaking occurs when children are still young, but gradually this method began to lose popularity among the population. Previously, he made it possible to know for sure that the child will be able to create a family that will bring healthy offspring. This was especially important for small villages, because often such engagements were concluded between representatives of different settlements. Now, with an increase in the number and greater mobility of people, there is no danger of being left without grandchildren.
2. Matchmaking of adults. Moreover, most often it is organized after the groom on the first day showed such a desire to his parents. If they approve of the girl, then matchmakers are sent to her house.

Unlike a Dagestan wedding, matchmaking is a closed procedure, one might even say secret. Matchmakers come to the girl's house for marriage in the evening, making an effort so that no one knows about their mission. The girl's parents and matchmakers discuss the amount of the ransom and dowry. These are 2 mandatory components of the contract between the parties, but they do not have a specific size, depending only on the well-being of families.

If an agreement is reached, then the young are considered engaged, after which preparations for the wedding begin.

Wedding preparations

A wedding in Dagestan attracts many guests, sometimes their number reaches a thousand. Therefore, a large amount of funds is required to hold the holiday, and they start saving money even at the birth of a child.

After the conclusion of the engagement, preparations for the holiday begin. It is important to understand that a stylized wedding is celebrated for two days, with a week between them. These banquets are organized at the parents' homes - first at the bride's, and then at the groom's. Or if the area of ​​the dwelling does not allow to accommodate all the guests, then they choose a restaurant.

Registration of marriage takes place only before the second banquet. This tradition of a double wedding arose because the bride's parents were not allowed to attend their daughter's wedding. This was to symbolize their refusal to influence her, and the girl's transition to a new family. To make this process easier, the bride went to the groom's house only surrounded by unmarried sisters who supported her during this difficult period.

But the bride's family also wanted to celebrate her marriage, and the girls wanted loved ones nearby.

But so that there would be no contradictions with the tradition, they began to create small gatherings in the bride's house. Gradually, such holidays have grown, becoming a full-fledged wedding banquet, which is not inferior to the main action.

The second reason for the emergence of such a tradition is that before the girls at the wedding in the groom's house could not relax. In some villages, they had to stand modestly in a special alcove. At the same time, the bride could not speak with someone or leave. She was only allowed to answer questions from older relatives.

This behavior was supposed to demonstrate humility and respect for elders. Now such a strict attitude towards the bride is not observed, and the girl is a full participant in the holiday. Such a vigil, while the others were having fun, was hard enough for the girl both physically and morally.

Therefore, celebrating at home, where she could participate in the celebration, was a pleasant part of the wedding.

Carrying out a wedding

A week after the first celebration comes the wedding day. The bride is dressed up in a beautiful dress, many ornaments and an intricate hairstyle. If the family belongs to strongly believing Muslims, then instead of packing, they put on a special bandage - niqab.

After that, a thin white veil is lowered onto the bride to close it from prying eyes. Since in ancient times it was believed that the bride dies for her family in order to be reborn in the groom's house, the path between them was dangerous for her. It was believed that she was deprived of the patronage of the clan, and evil spirits would want to take advantage of this moment.

In order for otherworldly entities not to see the girl, she was wrapped in a veil that did not allow finding a defenseless victim. The white veil was removed after entering the groom's house under the roof. Sometimes the tradition prescribed to remove the matter only at the end of the holiday.

At noon, the father of the groom knocks on the door of the bride's parents, saying that he has come for the girl for his son.

After that, the mother and sisters take the bride out to the doorstep of the house, where the future father-in-law gives her a mirror and a candle. In ancient times, these items were considered extremely valuable, therefore they are a symbol of happiness and prosperity.

The wedding procession moves with songs and national music. At the same time, anyone who met could block the road and demand a gift. O the groom's father was supposed to give a present.

When the procession ends, everyone in the groom's house is seated at the festive tables. The division into a male and a female part is considered traditional, earlier the whole event was held in separate halls, and the heterosexual guests did not see each other. Now they are limited only to a separate meal.

At the holiday, national music should always sound, and at the same time it should be performed live.

Also, for entertainment, a toastmaster is invited, who thoroughly knows the mentality and all national customs. Therefore, he can conduct contests that will be of interest to guests.

The main festive feature is a large number of national dances (lezginka and others, depending on the area of ​​residence). Most often, men participate - such dances require vigorous movements, which women dressed in strict dresses are not capable of.

But there is a tradition of the first dance of the newlyweds, when the groom dances, and the bride winds around him. Sharp movements of a man and flowing women look very harmonious and beautiful. The more skill the newlyweds have, the more mesmerizing everything looks. But before dancing with her husband, the bride needs to dance with the older men. This is necessarily the groom's father, his uncles and grandfather, if there are older married brothers, then the girl dances with them.

Only after that does her lover enter the site.

After the wedding

In the morning after the second wedding, where toasts sounded and music sang, the scarf is removed from the young wife.

Guests come to congratulate the newlyweds on the accomplished union, after which they treat themselves to sweets from the chest.

It is believed that this will bring good luck and prosperity to both newlyweds and those invited. On this day, the closest relatives of the newlyweds often exchange valuable things to confirm that there is no grudge between them.

It also demonstrates the friendly emotions generated by new relatives.

In this video - a beautiful Dagestan wedding:

Dagestan wedding is an event that is famous for its luxury. Regardless of how rich the family of the bride and groom is, the holiday should be chic and defiantly lush. Would you take the risk of organizing two weddings?

The wedding customs of the Dagestani people are closely intertwined with their national culture. Among the characteristic traditions of the Dagestan wedding are:

1) Double celebration ... The holiday is held for two days, the first time at the bride's house, and the second at the groom's house. It is important that the days of celebration do not go on in a row, but with a break of seven days.

2) Banning weddings on certain days ... In Dagestan, one cannot marry on the birthdays of the future husband and wife, on the birthdays of their parents and on religious occasions of the Islamic religion.

3) The choice of the type of celebration from the two opposite. The bride and groom, together with their parents, decide for themselves what they want: a quiet, calm holiday with a taboo on alcohol or a fun wind-up party with a classic set of entertainment drinks.

4) Many guests. Despite the type of wedding, at least three hundred guests must be present, but their number is usually no more than one and a half thousand. Every resident of the city where the newlyweds live should appear at the celebration at least for a short time as a sign of respect.

5) Stealing the bride in case of parental disagreement. Theft of the bride is not practiced everywhere at modern Dagestan weddings, but if the parents do not give their blessing, then the groom has no choice but to steal their daughter so that she can spend the night in his house. Since such a phenomenon entails shame for the girl, the wedding is destined to take place.

6) Secret matchmaking. The matchmaking procedure takes place in the evening by the visit of the groom's parents to the bride's house, where she is presented with various gifts. At the same time, they try not to disclose the very fact of such a visit, and the process itself takes place in a close circle only with the closest relatives of the bride.

7) Beautiful rich entertainment. As soon as a child is born in a Dagestan family, the family's money begins to be put aside for his wedding, so such events are always magnificent and expensive.

8) Lamentation of the bride. On the first day of the wedding celebration, which takes place in the bride's house, her friends mourn her, because the departure of the bride to the groom's house is considered to be a sad situation for them;

9) Groom friends shooting. It is noteworthy that when a friend marries, his comrades are engaged in shooting, because such an activity helps to make a young family happy and ward off troubles from her.

10) Dance of the newlyweds. This process is especially surprising at a Dagestan wedding, it is an obligatory component of it. First, around the bride, the invited men dance lezginka and throw money on the floor, which the bridesmaid collects. Aravul (the one who starts dancing at the wedding) heralds the beginning of dancing for men, but the invited women go out to dance only after the dance is performed by the groom's sister.

11) Outfit. It is customary for a woman to dress gracefully and beautifully for a wedding, in a long dress, a veil is not worn on her head. A man wears an ordinary costume, but during the dance he must wear a folk headdress - a hat.

12) Drinking honey. As soon as the bride enters the groom's house, his mother will hand her a bowl of honey, so that after tasting it, the bride's family life becomes sweet and smooth.

What happens after the celebration

In the first days after the wedding, guests continue to come to the newlyweds' house, congratulating them on the joyful event, while the owners of the house always undertake to let them in and pay due attention. The next day after the last day of the wedding, a scarf is removed from the bride, if she was wearing it, since in modern times its presence on the bride is no longer a prerequisite. Divorces in Dagestan are a very rare occurrence, therefore, after the wedding, the newlyweds live in perfect harmony, without thinking about the correct choice of their partner.

It is difficult to convey in words the process of a Dagestan wedding, since the scale and chic that accompanies it is extremely amazing, and in order to plunge into the customs and traditions of weddings for this nationality, it is best to attend this celebration at least once and see everything with your own eyes.

"Wedding ceremony in the Dagestan tradition"

Introduction

Dagestan is one of the most unique regions, representing the diversity of peoples, their languages ​​and traditions, closely intertwined, interacting and developing in this territory for millennia. In connection with the socio-economic, socio-political and historical-cultural processes that are taking place in society at the present time, the study of the basic laws and specifics of the wedding ceremony of the peoples of Dagestan, which is characterized, first of all, by a common material living conditions, well-known features of a national character, manifested in the national identity of its culture, is of great scientific, theoretical and practical importance.

Despite the fact that researchers have paid sufficient attention to various issues of the ethnography of the peoples of Dagestan, including wedding rituals, it will be very relevant and justified to study the wedding and related customs, procedures of the peoples of Dagestan in terms of their ethnocultural interactions for a long time, and also taking into account the varied traditions. The ritual culture of the mountainous region is a special culture, which, of course, was highlighted in this study.

The object of the research is the ritual as an integral part of the culture of the Dagestan people.

The subject of the research is the wedding ceremony of the Dagestani peoples.

The purpose of the work is to analyze the wedding ceremony of the peoples of Dagestan.

Research objectives: in accordance with the main goal, to investigate the wedding and wedding ceremonial culture of the peoples of Dagestan in all its originality, to study the structure of wedding customs and ceremonies.

The methodological basis of this course work is based on the use of the principles of comparative historical research. The methodological and theoretical basis of the study was the works of Russian and Dagestan ethnographers: B.M. Alimova, M.A. Aglarova, G.A. Sergeeva, Ya.S. Smirnova, S.Sh. Hajiyeva, S.S. Agashirinova, H.A. Kislyakova, N.B. Khadirbekova, A.G. Bulatova and others, who at various times studied the issues of marriage, family and the ritual culture of individual peoples of the region associated with them.

Research methods.

To solve the tasks, the following methods were used:

comparative - comparative,

ethnographic and cultural (study of the wedding ceremonial culture of the Dagestan peoples),

system analysis.

1. Pre-wedding customs and ceremonies in the past

.1 Conditions and forms of marriage

Weddings. Our life cannot be imagined without them. Marriage is one of the oldest solemn and important events in a person's life, which marks the creation of a new family. In Dagestan, every nation, and in every aul, has its own wedding customs and traditions, which originate from ancient times. They are enriched with many rituals, fun, ideological content. Weddings serve as a means of passing on folklore knowledge, social experience, moral norms and cultural traditions from generation to generation.

And tradition is what the people are alive and strong with, which is absorbed with mother's milk and is supported by the centuries-old lifestyle of society, the family, which determines our life for years and decades to come, which allows us to see moral guidelines in front of our inner gaze, draw spiritual strength from them ...

One of the many traditions that are significant in our life is the wedding tradition. In Dagestan, the most multinational region of Russia, wedding traditions were formed many centuries ago, under the influence of a hard and difficult life in the mountains, by the sea, on the plains and in the steppes.

There are not about three dozen wedding customs, rituals and traditions in Dagestan (according to the number of nationalities living in the Land of Mountains), but much more! Perhaps, there are as many auls as there are wedding traditions, and ethnographers have been studying them with interest since the 19th century.

The rituals of matchmaking and weddings were determined by adats (traditional law in the mountains), Sharia (Islamic law) and the customs of each aul.

According to adats, the decision on marriage is made not by the woman herself, but by her male relatives (father, uncle) or (if the girl is an orphan) kadi (judge), or dibir (mullah) aul.

The age of marriage varied in a certain way depending on the class. The marriageable ages of upper-class women were higher than those of lower-class women. The opposite is true for men. This often depended on the living conditions, way of life, and the economic situation of the family; there was also an opinion that marriage should be entered into when you are sure that you can support your family.

Early marriages were widespread among the peoples of the Muslim East, including the Dagestanis. Marriages at an early age were dictated by many motives: as long as the parents were alive, they wanted to see their children married. Many parents were afraid that, for example, some misfortune might happen to the girl (they would be kidnapped or some kind of stain would fall on her). In the minds of many generations, the opinion has taken root that "we must get rid of the girl as soon as possible before she brings grief to the house", "we must get rid of an extra mouth," "someone else's good is good in its place."

There were marriages in which the difference in years between the spouses was very large (15 years or more). Cases when young girls were passed off as elderly men were not approved by public opinion. They were caused, as a rule, for economic reasons. Marriages with large age differences were observed more often between upper-class men and girls from a poor, bankrupt family.

In Dagestan, there have long been three common forms of marriage: conspiracy, abduction, lullaby.

The lullaby is the choice of the bride for her son when he was still lying in the cradle. Such marriage deals meant that girls from 5, 10, 11 years of age became brides. Most of these deals were unsuccessful. As a rule, a girl betrothed from childhood later married another. Despite this, lullaby was a very common custom. The children were conspiring shortly after birth; at the same time, the boy's father gave some thing to the girl's father as a pledge, and minors were already considered from that time to be the bride and groom.

The most common and friendly form is by conspiracy of parents and with the consent of the young. The parents of the future groom and his relatives "looked closely" to the girls long before the matchmaking: during collective work, women, especially those who had the intention of marrying, watched the girls as they worked. After the matchmaking, the groom and his relatives could give the bride gifts, which after marriage or in case of refusal from the groom, became her property. In case of refusal on the part of the bride, gifts should be returned in double size! The quality and value of the gifts were not determined by the sharia or adat, it depended on the wealth of the groom's family, but the number of gifts must have included a ring. As a rule, handkerchiefs and fabric cuts were also presented.

There was also such a form of marriage as exchange. This is when a family took a girl from another family and, in turn, passed off their daughter for her brother. At one time, forbidden and not prestigious marriages were widespread in the Dagestan auls. The conclusion of marriages with people of another village and marriages between estates-unequal families were considered unprestigious. Quite tenacious and such a form of marriage as intra-abdominal, that is, within the same clan. Such a marriage was at one time given preference, and they tried to strictly adhere to it.

However, it would be inaccurate to say that love marriages were never contracted in the past. Young men and women, meeting at various festivals, and especially at weddings, looked after their future spouse there. The spring was a common and very popular meeting place. At the spring, there was often a kind of viewing of brides by young people. The girls wore the most elegant dresses when they went to fetch water. In the morning and in the evening it was a kind of parade of dressed up girls. Young people could throw a few words with them here, exchange glances: more daring young men could ask the girl for a drink.

Communication of young people at the spring, as well as at amusements, holidays contributed to a certain freedom of choice of the bride and groom. Nevertheless, in the period from the choice of the bride to the wedding, young people often had to overcome great difficulties, because the last word always remained with the parents. Cases when the choice of young people coincided with the intention of their parents were very rare.

Abduction (abduction). This form of marriage is very painful for the parents and has never found support from the people. The custom of withdrawal has always been a source of disagreement and bloody feuds. It will be discussed in more detail later.

Thus, we can conclude that in Dagestan there have long been 3 main forms of marriage: lullaby, abduction, marriage by conspiracy of parents. The rituals of matchmaking and weddings were determined by adats (traditional law in the mountains), Sharia (Islamic law) and the customs of each aul.

1.2 Rite of kidnapping

wedding ceremonial culture

From time immemorial, bride kidnapping has been one of the most popular ways to create a family in Dagestan. Even many modern young people, and sometimes even elderly people, consider the kidnapping of girls as a custom. In fact, bride kidnapping is not a custom, but a violation of custom, therefore it has always attracted and still entails persecution by the bride's relatives and enmity. That which entails enmity cannot be a custom, since customs arose precisely in order to solve all problems arising in society peacefully.

In the old days among the Dagestani peoples, in some cases, the rite of abduction, although it violated the custom, was also met with understanding in society. Firstly, if there are several sisters in the family, the eldest of them is sick or has some kind of physical disability, she cannot get married, and until she gets married, matchmaking to the younger sisters was not allowed.

The sequence of getting married by seniority was strictly preserved. If they marry a younger sister, while there is an older sister in the house, then the elder sister is inflicted with a severe mental wound, and she is, as it were, recognized as inferior. If a girl is recognized as inferior, then the stamp of inferiority falls on the whole family. In this case, the younger sister can be abducted to marry without offending the older sister.

In the old days in Dagestan, a young man sometimes violated the custom if the girl herself agreed to marry him, but the parents did not agree, or the young man did not have the material opportunity to marry according to custom. In addition, bride kidnapping has always been fraught with mortal danger for a young man who decides to take this step. To do this, he needed such qualities as courage, courage, willingness to risk his life for his girlfriend. As everyone knows, in the old days, Dagestani girls did not work, did not study, they did not go out to the city or village alone, unaccompanied. In order to steal a girl, a young man, at the risk of his life, had to climb into her house, and in this case, any relative could kill or injure him, and this was sometimes understood and justified by society.

It was not necessarily the groom himself who could steal the bride, often his friends or relatives do it without his knowledge, who, in their opinion, chose a worthy spouse for him. In the old days, the groom, with his friends, relatives or without himself, rode a motorcade on horses after the bride, and the horses were chosen the most frisky, so that the bride's brothers could not catch up with them.

The stolen girl was brought to the groom's house, and kept there, calming and persuading to marry the kidnapper, giving her all the available arguments for consent (for example, the authority of the groom, his condition, his ownership of land and property). And if the abducted woman still did not agree to marry the groom presented to her, then she had very few chances to marry later, since it was believed that such a bride already had a bad reputation. This, perhaps, was the most powerful argument for the stolen bride to agree to marry her kidnapper.

There were cases in Dagestan when a bride was held “hostage” for several days, in an attempt to break her will. So the bride may refuse to sit down and eat for several days in a row, demonstrating her disobedience and disagreement with the marriage. In such cases, the kidnapper's family usually releases the girl.

As a symbol of consent, the bride wore a white wedding scarf on her head. According to all the laws of the Caucasus and, directly, the Dagestanis, all this time, the kidnapper should not see the bride until her consent to the marriage.

After the rebellious bride still managed to persuade, the young go to her father, ask for his blessing for the marriage, which, in turn, curses both of them and rejects, but forgives with the birth of their first child.

Cases of the theft of the bride by conspiracy between lovers were extremely rare, and such circumstances were carefully hidden, as they were fraught with shame for the young couple. Especially for a girl, since suspicions immediately arose that she had a premarital relationship with her beloved, or that she was so unpopular with suitors that she was already desperate to find a life partner.

The young man was also condemned - instead of going to the girl's parents' house and asking for the hand of their daughter, he went to the kidnapping when the girl agreed. And immediately, numerous neighbors began to whisper that this was, they say, not without reason.

Such an adat has become so accustomed to the fabric of traditionally established relations in Dagestan that it is extremely difficult to erase it, like any other non-Islamic relic. Like weeds, it grows through the admonitions of religious leaders about the inappropriateness of the Sharia (Islamic law) of such a model of matchmaking, through the historical twists and turns, through the years and all the prohibitions. No matter how the centuries-old traditions have changed over the years, although they have been rethought and changed, they still continue to live.

Thus, we can conclude that kidnapping of a bride, although it was one of the most popular ways to create a family in Dagestan, did not find a greeting either from the people themselves, and even more so did not correspond to Islamic canons.

1.3 Matchmaking rite

The peoples of Dagestan have always attached great importance to the marriage of a son or the marriage of a daughter. The choice of a bride or groom was considered a serious and responsible business. Not only the family was engaged in it, but also a wider circle of relatives, and even tukhum (clan) in general. When assessing the personal qualities of the bride, first of all, her diligence, restraint in the manifestation of emotions, knowledge of the rules of etiquette were taken into account. In addition, it was required that the girl be physically strong, capable of having healthy offspring and performing numerous duties in the household, at home and in raising children. Mainly in the bride, her origin and ability to work on the house were valued.

Among the Dargins and Laks, the first visit to the girl's house was made by the boy's parents. The influence of matchmakers was significant. The Avars had another custom: for negotiations, the young man's family invited the girl's father, generously treated him and made an offer. As a rule, business was not limited to one visit. "A good girl will not agree to marry until the matchmakers' shoes are worn out," it was said in the old days.

Among other peoples (Lezgins, Tabasarans, Azerbaijanis), matchmaking was carried out through a respected man, sent by the groom instead of the matchmaker to the bride's relatives. The purpose of this visit was hinted at; a direct offer to relatives to marry their daughter was considered indecent. The conversation could begin with the common phrase: “We ask you to become a father and mother” to such and such a person ... If the bride's parents agreed, they pronounced “inshaallah” (with God's help, if God pleases), otherwise they immediately refused.

Matchmaking was fundamentally different from all other "actions" of the wedding ceremony in that it remained a secret and was always carried out in the narrowest circle. The reason, most likely, was not only the fear of "jinxing" the first steps of a possible marriage, but also the unpredictability of the situation - the parents' refusal to marry their daughter to the person who proposed to her could cause a lot of resentment. In this regard, they often resorted to the services of intermediaries who had to find out whether the bride's parents agreed to intermarry with them. It should be noted here about the special role of the mediator, on whose advice the matter might not have come to matchmaking in some cases.

There were cases when the question of marriage was resolved immediately, and the young man's mother immediately put silver rings and a bracelet on the girl. But this happened very rarely.

After the conspiracy, the groom could visit the bride, and in the old days there was even such an adat: the groom and the bride after the matchmaking could sleep together, but before the marriage the groom had no right to touch the bride's body. Under Imam Shamil, one Akhvakh (Akhvakh - one of the Avar villages) bride killed her groom with a dagger, who wanted to violate this adat, and not only was not subjected to any punishment, but also deserved general praise.

After the conspiracy, the issue of paying the bridegroom's side of the kalym (ransom) was also discussed. Kalym was an outer garment worn by the bride on her wedding day, bedding, blankets, and other property. All this came into the full ownership of the bride and was taken from her in case she later herself wants to leave her husband.

Some of the peoples of Dagestan demanded and are still demanding the payment of the marriage gift by the groom, while others release him from this obligation. The former include the Avars and some peoples of southern Dagestan, the latter - the Dargins and Laks. The Koran, for example, specifies that the ransom should belong to the wife, as a kind of material guarantee in case of divorce. Sharia ascribes the bride's parents receiving the ransom. The payment of kalym for the bride was as important an attribute of marriage as the registration of it with the mullah. It was unshakable for all the peoples of the North

The Caucasus, in which Islam was the official religion. It should be noted that the ransom for the bride took place among all Dagestan peoples, but its size was not the same, and the value largely depended on the customs adopted in a particular society, on their economic well-being, material status, and class affiliation.

The next step was getting engaged. The betrothal in its form was in the nature of a solemn act of informing relatives, loved ones, all fellow villagers about the intention of the two families to become related, therefore, not only relatives were invited, but also many fellow villagers. After him, none of the parties could refuse marriage without good reason.

Sometimes the betrothal took place in a narrower circle. The betrothal procedure depended on the position of the family (economic, estate). There could be some other reasons, for example, the recent death of a relative, a serious illness of a loved one, etc.

At this stage, the groom's ambassadors went to the bride's house with gifts, in some places they were accompanied by all the relatives. Of course, for each nation and in each locality, the amount and value of the gift was different. Among the Avars, the gifts of the groom and the bride's dowry were often hung on ropes in the bride's yard for public viewing and evaluation. A ring and a scarf were usually brought to the engagement. So in some villages, for example, the next morning, the bride's friends or cousins ​​went to fetch water, wearing a scarf and a ring brought by the matchmakers. This, firstly, announced the engagement, and, secondly, presented gifts.

With the promulgation of the fact of matchmaking and the settlement of property and material issues between future relatives, the period of pre-wedding ceremonies and customs preceding the wedding began. First of all, the bride's side began to prepare a dowry, gifts for the groom's relatives.

Among the Tabasarans, for example, during this period, the bride's mother made a round of the village in order to collect wool for her daughter's mattresses. It was supposed to go around all the houses, and if she missed someone, they were offended. For the same purpose, she could visit neighboring villages where there were kunaks (friends). In this case, the wife of a kunak walked around the village, who named the purpose of the parish, and the bride's mother accompanied her. The groom's mother made the same round.

After the betrothal, the relatives of the bride and groom communicate closely with each other, consult in everything, jointly participate in field work, help each other in organizing various family celebrations and events. Thus, the pre-wedding period is of great not only economic and economic, but also socio-psychological significance.

Already during this period, the groom's relatives bear part of the expenses for the maintenance of the bride. From time to time, gifts are made to the bride, often expensive ones.

Traditionally, after the betrothal, young people were given the opportunity to see each other. Usually the groom and his friends came to the house "as if in secret." At that moment, only the sisters, the wives of the older brothers, and less often the mother, remained in the bride's house.

The arrival of the groom did not mean that he must see and talk with the bride. Only after repeated visits did the groom manage to remain alone with the bride. The groom and his friends came to the bride with gifts and before leaving, in turn, received gifts from her. The custom of the groom's visit to the bride had a certain educational value, since the meetings were subject to strict rules and traditional etiquette.

Thus, we can conclude that the pre-wedding ceremonies everywhere had a preparatory character. This period began with the choice of the bride, then matchmaking, and ended with the immediate preparations for the wedding.

Matchmaking was fundamentally different from all other "actions" of the wedding ceremony in that it remained a secret and was always carried out in the narrowest circle.

2. Wedding ceremony in the Dagestan tradition

.1 Customs and ceremonies in the home of the bride and groom before the wedding

The central and main stage of all wedding rituals, the meaning of which was to publicly sanction marriage, was the feast and celebration of the wedding itself. It was a very responsible event, for which they were preparing practically from the birth of a child to his marriageable age, not only the whole family, but also the whole circle of relatives. The wedding was a complex system of ceremonies, which consisted of many links closely related to each other.

In the wedding cycle of the peoples of Dagestan, both common features and differences were observed, characteristic not only for individual peoples, but also for villages. These differences were due to the difference in the economic and cultural development of each local group, and were also the result of the influence of the ritual culture of neighboring peoples on the wedding ceremonies of these peoples.

Pre-wedding ceremonies everywhere were of a preparatory nature. This period began with the choice of the bride and ended with the immediate preparations for the wedding. The Dagestani wedding was celebrated very solemnly. The season of weddings, like many other peoples, was considered autumn, the reason for this was economic. At this time, agricultural work was ending, there were enough supplies in the house, in addition, otkhodniks were returning home. Sometimes they played weddings in winter.

A few days before the wedding, the parents of the groom and the bride, according to custom, gathered all the relatives for a council, at which responsibilities during the celebration were distributed (cooking refreshments, calling guests, serving them). Immediately they jointly decided in whose jurisdiction the drinks would be, and in whose jurisdiction the rest of the foodstuffs would be. Usually, close people and neighbors were appointed to these positions. In any case, they tried to make these people thrifty and economical. They, in turn, had assistants. In particular, the duties of some were to monitor the condition of the tables, while the duties of others included inviting guests to the table. Such people were appointed from both men and women, since when organizing a feast, the sex and age criterion was observed. Special people were also appointed for cooking. Only women cooked food.

They also determined the circle of persons who should bring the bride's dowry, as well as those who will go to fetch the bride. The choice came from; those "who have a heartache for the owners of the wedding house." They were completely entrusted with all economic functions. Neither father, mother, nor the groom's sisters and brothers took part in organizing the feast. They only accepted congratulations. Individuals were also appointed to invite guests to the wedding. Only women were sent to invite women, men - men. Wealthy people went to invite to the wedding in a phaeton or in a cart with an accordion. Usually these functions were performed by young girls, but there was always a young woman among them. They entered every courtyard, arranged dances there, sang, and then said: "Tomorrow, such and such, they send an cart and they invite you." Those, in turn, answered: "In a good hour, let him come — the bride is in mind — so that you always have weddings."

It was considered a great honor to get a "position" at a wedding "for any of the fellow villagers. Many of those who were not honored with such an honor were offended, considering themselves left out.

As for the pre-wedding ceremonies, they began a few days before the ceremony.

This was the rite of dressing. On a certain day, the bride invited an experienced craftswoman-cutter, as well as one of the most respected women with many children from the village. This woman, in the presence of everyone (both the bride's friends and the groom's relatives), read a prayer, and, expressing her good wishes, made an incision from the edge of the fabric. Only after that did the craftswoman start cutting the wedding dress. The craftswoman completed the cutting ceremony with the words: “The cutting is finished. May children be born in this family as soon as this cut. Let the family be strong and friendly, just as these things are sewn together. Happiness and prosperity to them! "

Then a boy was rolled over on a heap of cut cloth with the wish to have many boys in this family. A table was laid for all those present. Of the dishes, there was always a ritual khinkal made from a coarsely ground mixture of wheat and black-bean flour, or a khinkal made from corn flour. On this day, her friends, relatives, as well as close relatives of the groom (sisters, aunts) gathered in the bride's house. Musicians were invited to the house. The girls sang, danced, joked.

On the eve of the wedding, a bachelorette party ("girls' meeting") was going to. This "small wedding" was also a farewell to a girl who went to another house and passed into the stage of a married woman. The bachelorette party was a noisy female company, accompanied by jokes, poems, sayings, dances. Along with the "bachelorette parties" were also held "bachelor parties" - the farewell of the groom to his bachelorhood, the ceremony of approving a new family in the circle of relatives and in the rural community.

An important pre-wedding action was the "magar" - the religious consolidation of the union. It was carried out in some cases immediately after the matchmaking, more often before the wedding. During the Mahara, they agreed on the amount of the conditional payment in case of divorce or widowhood. It was prescribed by the Sharia and was practiced everywhere by all segments of the population.

The day of the religious registration of marriage ("magar", "nikah") was necessarily timed to either Thursday or Friday (happy days) and was never advertised. The people believed that this would prevent the "evil eye" and the evil intrigues of ill-wishers. Many peoples of Dagestan believed that especially a lot of harm could be done to the bride and groom during the bonding of the marriage act "magar". Such ideas also exist among many Caucasian and Central Asian peoples, who believed that evil spirits and sorcerers were in a hurry to take advantage of the moment of marriage. It was believed that at the time of the marriage, the enemy could, by climbing on the roof of the house or hiding somewhere, from where one could hear the questions and answers spoken at the official marriage ceremony, “deprive” the groom of his male abilities. To do this, he had to deny everything that was uttered by the mullah and, at the same time with each denial, tie a knot on a thread, remove the dagger from its scabbard and insert it with the back, or lock the lock.

In order to avoid witchcraft on the part of hostile persons, close relatives of the groom used various countermeasures: they posted sentinels who watched the house; while reading the prayer that holds the marriage together, someone cut paper, wool, hair with scissors, thus, as it were, cut the charms sent to the young. The expected "harm" in this case, as it were, materialized in the minds of people. Subsequently, the cut things were burned with salt and the young were fumigated with smoke. Such superstitious beliefs were inherent in many peoples of the world.

So, the following can be attributed to the main pre-wedding ceremonies held in the house of the bride and groom: the rite of dressing, hen party, bachelor party, magiar.

2.2 Rite of passage of the bride

The central accent of the wedding celebration was the bride's move from her father's house to the groom's house.

On the day of the wedding, which began simultaneously at the house of the bride and groom, in the afternoon a delegation was sent from the groom to fetch the bride. In some villages, ambassadors for the bride were sent several times with an invitation to get under way. They sang songs of praise at her house, invited her to the exit.

From the side of the groom, not only his relatives and friends, but also the most respected elderly people, went after the bride. The procession, riding on carts and on horseback, was necessarily accompanied by musicians and part of the groom's retinue. The wedding train was headed by one of the groom's friends, who, together with one of the relatives and a relative of the groom, was to pick up the bride.

Regardless of where the bride was, the procession first entered the house of the bride's father. When the wedding train approached the gates of the bride's house, the representatives of the groom's house sang songs. These songs were dedicated to the father, brothers, uncle of the bride. These were mostly glorious songs. In this case, comic, corylous songs were not performed by either side.

Then the guests were invited to the room for refreshments, here they pronounced their wishes to the parents and relatives of the bride, to the bride and her new home.

When the groom's retinue approached the bride's house, her friends locked the room in which she was, and did not let the representatives arriving from the groom until they paid the ransom. This custom, apparently, genetically reflected the change from one form of family to another - the struggle against the new system of marriage relations and the patriarchal settlement. At the end of the XIX and, especially at the beginning of the XX century, this meaning was lost and the custom was perceived as a comic wedding action. The groom's ambassadors were not always admitted directly to the bride's house. So, among some peoples of Dagestan, they were kept at the gates for a long time, "figuring out" what kind of people they were, why they came. Sometimes the playful altercations of the parties dragged on, those who came were subject to a "fine", as troublemakers. The nature of the dialogue depended on the wit of the man who led the newcomers.

When the guests from the side of the bride left, the bride and groom were called into the room where the men, the groom's relatives, were sitting. Men asked the bride humorous questions: "why did you come to this house?", "Why did your relatives leave, but you stayed here?" The bride could only blush and keep silent.

Leaving the parental house, the bride took with her two loaves, one of which she threw outside the gates of her house, the other in the courtyard of the groom, as soon as she entered it. This symbolized the desire of the bride to live from now on in abundance in her husband's house, without needing parental help. When leaving the parental home and entering the groom's house, before the bride's wedding procession, bonfires were burned; they could also be rekindled multiple times along the route of the wedding train.

During the bride's move, friends from the groom's side performed magnificent ritual songs praising the girl, her family, the groom,

his family. At that time, the groom's friends opened shooting, which was practiced by many peoples of the Caucasus, and was usually interpreted as a magical protective action. Over time, this custom lost both its symbolic and magical meaning and was viewed as a demonstration of courage, dexterity, as a manifestation of joy.

The wedding procession usually consisted of several arb. Many old-timers said that they carried their bride in a covered cart, which had the shape of a wagon. The bride's wedding cortege consisted of men and women sent for her from the groom, as well as her friend, guardian, numerous relatives and relatives and just spectators.

The women accompanying the bride carried torches, a lamp or a burning lamp (even if the procession was moving during daylight hours), as well as a chest or bundles with cooked food: a variety of ritual cookies that the groom, his friends and guardian, who saw off him to the bride, and the next morning to decorate with them the table in the newlywed's room.

Along the way, the youth repeatedly delayed the wedding train and let it go further after the ransom. From them, according to custom, they bought them off with bread and halva, and later they began to buy them off with money.

The wedding procession stopped near the groom's house. It was at this moment that a lot of songs were performed. Representatives of the bride's house in the groom's house entered into real poetry contests here, which constitute one of the best traditions of the Dagestani folk culture.

Each side of this exciting and unique competition made every effort to gain the upper hand. But such competitions were always playful in nature and did not cause offense to anyone, since they served the sole purpose of cheering those present.

The bride's embassy did not enter the courtyard without remuneration for the driver. As the wedding procession approached the groom's house, music, songs, jokes intensified. The groom's relatives greeted the procession noisily: music played (zurna, drum), dances were arranged in front of the groom's house.

When the bride approached the groom's house, sweets were showered from the roof, wishing her a sweet life in the new house. Sometimes they showered it with grain, sometimes both. When the bride entered the house, she was warmly greeted by the groom's mother, who gave her a spoonful of honey, and the other relatives of the groom showered her with coins (now - sweets) with wishes of happiness, health, well-being, etc.

In order for the bride to settle down in the new house and have children, she was introduced into the house by the groom's maternal relative with many children (if the groom does not have a mother).

After all these symbolic actions, the bride was brought to the best room allotted for her, and she stood there in the corner while everyone congratulated her on the new hearth.

At the door of the bride’s room, a “jallat” (“executioner”) was placed, who would not let anyone into her room. He and his one or two assistants guarded the interests of the entire suite of the bride, although they were representatives of the groom's house.

In turn, the bride's retinue, taking advantage of the fact that the groom's side must fulfill their wishes, tried to take revenge. Moreover, the retinue demanded that her quirks be performed by the eldest of the groom's relatives. For example, through jallat, they invited a grandfather, father, or paternal uncle, if he was older than the groom's father, with a special song, and demanded that he bring his wife on his back. The "order" was executed immediately. Or they would invite the groom's aunt or sister and ask them to cook and bring nettle dumplings within five minutes, even if the wedding took place in winter.

Knowing that the bridegroom's retinue may require such a thing, the groom's relatives prepared in advance. Often they would invite a close relative and make him dance with all the bride's friends. At the same time, the dancer had to endow each of them with money. The demands were the most unexpected, and this whole ritual brought extraordinary animation and fun to the wedding celebration.

Jallats, in turn, not wanting to give in, tried to help out the groom's relatives. They resorted to various tricks to protect one or another relative of the groom from a fine, and came up with different versions. For example, they said that the invitee suddenly fell ill or broke his leg on the way here. Then the representatives of the bride demanded to bring him in their arms. If it turned out that the jallat was “working” for the groom's relatives, the bride's retinue demanded that he be immediately replaced by another. His assistants were also deprived of their powers.

Some relatives were invited to sing songs. Others had to bring trays of various foods. But no matter how inventive the bride's retinue was in their requirements, one condition was strictly observed - the family relations and the age of those who were "subjected to tests" were taken into account.

But, nevertheless, even in the courtyard the fun did not stop for a second: old men, young women, girls danced, sang. Songs were played between dances and during dances. Some songs were addressed to the bride's retinue.

The old men say that the groom's relatives tried to make the bride's retinue hear the words of their songs. If they were driven away, they climbed to the roof and sang out the window. They were driven from there as well. Then they put the ladder to the window that looked out onto the garden and sang again. The bridesmaids also did not remain in debt. Each side made every effort to gain the upper hand. For this purpose, the most intelligible and capacious words were selected. At the same time, all these poetic jokes did not arouse offense in anyone.

Many songs were performed in the intervals between dances. Among such songs, traditional folk lyric and love songs, as well as majestic and cornicious songs, occupy a large place. Traditional wedding songs (choral and solo) are also sung. However, it should be noted that both male and female choirs are performed mainly by older people. These songs are amazingly beautiful, melodious and lyrical. They are usually performed in two or three voices and mainly by older men. Sometimes older women join them. It must be said that neither young men nor young women sing this song. They stand aside and listen attentively to their elders. These songs are very popular at the present time. They are sung mostly by women now.

A purely feminine song is the "confession song" that young widows sang at their weddings at night. The lyrics of these songs are dignified. In this song, every singing woman sang about herself, about her loved ones. She sang her father, brother, uncle. In them women poured out their souls. The melody of the song is slow, drawn-out, lyrical, quiet and calm. Women say that the melody of these songs resembles a quiet and sad river, rather a trickle that flows silently and slowly. Without any musical accompaniment, one of the women sings, and everyone else picks up this song. And so they sing for an hour, then another, taking turns replacing each other.

Concluding the conversation about wedding songs, it must be said that Dagestan wedding songs are not characterized by a complex plot composition. A thought, quite complete and poetic, often fits in one verse. These are quatrains with rhymed more often the second and fourth, sometimes the first and second, third and fourth lines (see Appendix 1). There are female songs, there are male songs, there are girls' and youthful songs, there are songs for the elderly and old people. There are even songs by young widows (see Appendix 2).

The customs and rituals described above existed in the past with some peculiarities among all the peoples of Dagestan. And, despite the introduction of innovations, interethnic mutual influence and borrowing, in general, even in cities, they now exhibit a well-known healthy conservatism and original elements of the traditions of the national ritual culture, and in rural areas many positive aspects of customs and traditions of wedding rituals have been preserved to a greater extent.

2.3 The beginning of the wedding feast

For Dagestanis, the wedding lasted two or three days, regardless of the material condition. It was costly for a poor man. After such a wedding for 2-3 years, the newlyweds almost starved to pay off their debts.

In the groom's house, the fun begins in the morning. The tables are laid, the drum is beaten, the sounds of zurna echo through the mountains. The table is led by an experienced toastmaster, appointed on the eve of the wedding, and his assistants monitored the order and level of service, and also resolved all emerging problems.

Not only close relatives, but also relatives from the side of daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, as well as old people were honored at a wedding in the groom's house and in the bride's house. They were served earlier than others, they were seated at the best, literally “first table”. Men and women were always in different rooms.

At the wedding, the groom gathered from 200 to 500 or more people, depending on the size of the clan, the ramification of family ties and the wealth of the family. At the same time, the composition of the participants was constantly changing - some came, others left. The groom's relatives and guests treat themselves, sing, dance, make toasts, compete in wit and grace in their statements and good wishes.

It also hosts funny jokes, impromptu performances, etc. The toastmaster and other adult men strictly monitor the observance of two indispensable conditions at the wedding - so that everyone has fun and no one feels offended, infringed, and even more so - deliberately offended or offended. Closer to the afternoon, a procession headed by the newlywed and his friends is sent from the groom's house to the bride's house. But before that, a representative must appear from the bride and say that the bride's house is already ready to receive them.

After the meal, in the late afternoon, dancing began. Most often, the dance floor was prepared in advance and equipped with benches and benches. The oldest families and distinguished guests sat in the first rows, the rest were placed behind them. Young people were gathered everywhere for dancing.

Before the official start of the dance, children and youths gather. The groom's relatives put on men's clothes and dance to the cheerful exclamations of all those present. The dance begins with the arawul (main dancer). To a special musical accompaniment, the groom's sister dances with him, gradually several more couples join them. Thus, the competition of dancers begins. As a rule, they dance in pairs: a man and a woman. With the beginning of a new melody, girls (women) come to the platform and only after that men join them. Sometimes a dispute arose between men over the choice of a woman, but it was successfully resolved by arawul.

The audience was especially delighted with the "bull dance", it was danced by men dressed in a bull's skin and a bull's mask. "Bull" butted the audience, chased girls, young men and children. Towards the end of the event, the guests asked the groom's father to dance the "bear" dance to entertain the audience. As a rule, the dancing ended by midnight.

The whole wedding was saturated with rituals, but actions aimed at causing laughter were concentrated mainly in the rituals of the wedding itself.

Jester dressed up at a wedding in the 19th - early 20th centuries. is a purely laughable character, and the organizers were just as worried about ensuring his presence at the wedding as they were about having music and food. It should be noted that the manifestation of this laughter culture, each Dagestan people manifested itself in different ways.

Costumers played a significant role in wedding celebrations, where their actions were related to the first three days of the wedding. Before the bride was placed in the groom's house, these were young people from the village. The mummers staged a comic fight among themselves. They showered those present with oatmeal, flour, ridiculed and humorously punished the "violators of the order". Often close relatives of the groom changed into mummers, and so skillfully changed their appearance that no one recognized them (they changed into a man's suit, into a fur coat turned inside out).

It is interesting to note that jesters were allowed to say whatever they wanted to any wedding participant. At the same time, no one should have been offended by them. They ridiculed greed, envy, lies and other vices of those present, albeit in a humorous manner. In addition, they were allowed liberties, for example, to hug anyone, to lie down at someone's feet, to lean on their elbows. They could approach the khans and talk to them as equals. It was forbidden to offend the mummers. If it happened that someone accidentally offended a mummer with something, everyone condemned this person. The mummer received gifts and other signs of respect at the wedding.

In the bride's house, the fun ended after she saw her off to the groom's house. In the groom's house, the fun was gaining momentum after the bride was brought in. In general, it should be noted that the wedding celebration and fun were not played out for the bride and groom, they almost did not participate in them (only at the very end of the wedding they danced a special dance) - the celebration was played out for relatives and guests.

The wedding was and is still a great holiday for the Dagestanis, which was always held solemnly, with the involvement of all the inhabitants of the village in it. A wedding in every urban village was a set of ritual actions designed to ensure a long and happy married life for a young couple, to provide her with numerous offspring, as well as this great festive celebration for the entire population, a colorful spectacle, a kind of performance with a well-known scenario, where the main actors the faces knew their roles perfectly.

And also a wedding in every mountain society, in every village was not only a set of ritual actions designed to ensure a long and happy life together, numerous offspring, but also a colorful celebration of the whole society, in which almost all age categories from children to old people took part.

2.4 Post-wedding ceremonies and customs

The main semantic tendency of customs and rituals carried out immediately after the wedding is the establishment of a new family in society (rural community) and within the family, clan. In general, the post-wedding cycle of rituals in wealthy families lasted longer than in poor families. To a large extent, this can be explained by the low material level of the poor, which did not allow additional spending of money and time.

From the cycle of ceremonies associated with marriage, but held immediately after the wedding in the groom's house, it should be noted the custom of organizing in the homes of close relatives of the groom on the paternal side, celebrations similar to the wedding, with all its attributes (with the invitation of musicians, the groom with the bride and all participants in the wedding ). The rest of the relatives for several months could invite the young to them at any time.

An important post-wedding custom was the solemn invitation by the young parents of the husband to the utility room, which symbolized the entry of the bride into the role of mistress of the new house. In some villages this happened on the fourth day, in others - after a week. Sometimes this ceremony was performed even after 3 months - in the event that there was a young girl or daughter-in-law in the family who was doing housework.

The bride, accompanied by her friends, entered the utility room where the women were sitting. One of the bride's friends carried a tray with sweets, which were distributed to those present on behalf of the bride, and the other handed over to the father-in-law and mother-in-law a small rug for performing namaz (prayer). The bride was taken in turn to her husband's relatives by seniority, whom she hugged. At the same time, young relatives stood up to meet her, and she leaned towards the elderly herself.

Then the bride went to her room, where young people were waiting for her, but before leaving she was given a pinch of salt. The custom of giving salt to a young mistress is apparently connected with the fact that for some peoples, salt by itself and in combination with other objects served as a talisman.

A few (4-5) days after the wedding, the bride's father invited the young couple from all the relatives of the groom. The young woman went to her mother with some sweets, the mother, in turn, presented her daughter. Among the post-wedding ceremonies associated with the introduction of the daughter-in-law to the economic activities of the family, one should include the rite of the first withdrawal of the newlywed to a public spring.

In the morning, young women and girls with jugs gathered at the newlyweds' house. All together with songs, jokes went to the public spring. As a rule, women participate in this ritual; men are present here only in the role of observers. But, nevertheless, young guys are doing everything to steal the bride's jug for the subsequent ransom for it. Therefore, the main task of the women's retinue is to prevent this. But if it happens that they overlooked the jug, then women will not get off with just a ransom. They will have to sing and dance. Therefore, the rite of passage to the spring partly turned into a folk festivities with music, songs, dances. Everything happened in a cheerful, perky, playful and unusually benevolent atmosphere.

The villagers began to gather at the spring. And then it's time to look for a bride for yourself. Young guys are trying to throw small pebbles into the jug of the future darling, so that she drew attention to him. All day long songs are sung in the village and zurna is played.

On the way back, the rural youth again blocked the path of the bride and her retinue for the purpose of ransom, and received a booze and a miracle. Upon returning home, the bride treated the groom with sweetened water from a jug, and then one of the old men announced the completion of the ritual.

In the evening, the Aul youth gathers in the newlyweds' house to taste the traditional khinkal prepared by the young hostess.

After this ceremony, the bride received the right to go out, attend public holidays, funerals, and take part in field work. At the same time, the newlywed was not supposed to appear unnecessarily in the eyes of her father-in-law, and in the past she did not talk to him at all until her death, if he himself did not show initiative. She could not talk to other older men - close relatives of her husband. In addition, the bride did not have to name her husband's relatives, both men and women, and therefore came up with respectful addresses for them.

Thus, we can conclude that the post-wedding ceremonies were aimed at establishing a new family in society.

The description of a traditional wedding, wedding customs and rituals directly related to it can be schematically represented as a system consisting of such important subsystems as matchmaking, betrothal, wedding celebration and post-wedding customs, rituals. They are combined into a single wedding ritual, which is a very complex complex of economic, legal, religious-magical, socio-psychological, game, poetic and other elements related to a common goal and objectives. And the general goal and objectives of these rituals is the creation of a prosperous family.

Many of these rituals are almost entirely preserved at the present time, they are the cultural heritage and historical memory of the people. And we should try so that modern "typical" motives do not cross out the ritual culture, modernization would not violate the basic wedding scheme, although today, unfortunately, folk culture is largely defenseless against the global processes of modern civilization. Therefore, folklore and artistic ritual culture, having passed a certain historical path, have become different in quality.

Conclusion

The scenario of a wedding, wedding customs and rituals among the peoples of Dagestan allows us to conclude that a wedding ritual is characterized by a complex combination of various rituals that arose in ancient times and entered everyday life much later. Some of the rites of the wedding ceremony are associated with religious beliefs, established traditions and magical ideas, which by the time under study had lost their original meaning and were performed to enhance the entertaining, emotional and playful side of the wedding. For some peoples, the wedding ceremony has been preserved more fully, for others, the wedding ceremony has been somewhat simplified.

But it is the wedding ceremony that preserves the historically formed features of ethnic culture more stable than other elements of folk life. For all the peoples of Dagestan, wedding rituals were a vivid, distinctive phenomenon of folk culture and were distinguished by great complexity and variety.

As for the structure of the Dagestan wedding rituals, the coursework material allows us to single out three main parts in it that are traditionally still in place: pre-wedding rituals (matchmaking, collusion), the wedding itself, and post-wedding ceremonies.

Pre-wedding ceremonies everywhere were of a preparatory nature. This period began with the choice of the bride and ended with the immediate preparations for the wedding.

The wedding itself in every mountain society, in every village was not only a set of ritual actions designed to ensure a long and happy life together, numerous offspring, but also a colorful celebration of the whole society, in which almost all age categories from children to old people took part.

Post-wedding rituals were aimed at establishing a new family in society, and the common goal and objectives of all these rituals and rituals was to create a prosperous family.

The rituals of lullaby, bride kidnapping, denial of love between a young man and a girl when creating a family have gone into legends. Now young people have a choice, they marry out of mutual love and consent. The positive elements of the traditions and customs that have survived to this day serve the high moral education of the young generation. No wonder they say: what is forgotten about the past is forgotten about the future. Therefore, the traditions and customs of antiquity are embodied in reality and are passed down from generation to generation.

In general, the analysis of the above materials allows us to conclude that the people strive to preserve all those rituals that symbolize peace and harmony, the beauty and emotional expressiveness of all wedding cycles, all rituals that instill in young people a sense of social responsibility for each other, mutual respect and support.

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Annex 1

GALALAY

Groom's side:

Ai tuvganda, ai tuvsun Gun tuvganda, gun tuvsun. Meni atamny of yurtun Aida hadirgun tuvsun.

This is how the groom's paternal sister or aunt sings when the wedding train with the bride approaches the groom's house:

Gelin-gelin, gel checks. Geltiganing Besh Toshek. Beshisinda toltugur Ulan tavup oltugur.

Bashimnagi gulmellim Dengizni ustun yapsun. Gelegen yil shu chakga Gelinim ulan tapsun.

Bride's side:

Gelin alip gelipbiz. Chachma kozunguz barmu? Biz geltigan gelinga Aitma sozunguz barmu.

Bizga gelgen damchilar Turlu yyrlaryn sokdu, Siz geltigan geling Aytma sozummiz yokdu.

Appendix 2

GALILEY

Elden Elge Gelipbiz Bashingizni Burunguz. Gelin alip gelipbiz Eringizga turunguz.

Vir manat, eki manat Kisamna hirli manat. Bizga kizin sakalagan

Yuz Yashassin Magammat.

Appendix 3

VAYTALLAY

Qara kastumung giyip Qaramay baramusan. Baragan yering aitmay Yuregim yaramusan.

Alty-etti yumurka, Ashamayli toyama. I am elturmai, I am olmey, Suygen kizin koyamu.

Suygen dosun koyamu, Tasmalardai tilinmai. Tas bolup getgin uhlan Getgen yering bilinmai.

Appendix 4

GY VANAY DESEM, VANAY

Taktadan Kopur Etsin. Ustundan Otup Getsin. Wai Meni Zhan Kardashym Gyar Negetina Etsin.

Gyi-wanai desm know Anai desem-ainanai. Gyi-vanai desem know Ainanai desem know.

Kazanda bishgan ashin Zhiyilganlar ashasin. Wai Meni Kardashlarim Yuz Yillaga Yashasin.

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Dagestani villages and cities live from wedding to wedding. The wedding is a very important event here not only for the newlyweds and their loved ones, but also for all the numerous relatives, as well as neighbors. Therefore, it is not surprising that about a thousand people usually take part in a three-day feast. Two Russian photographers - Nikolai Rykov and Dmitry Chistoprudov - took advantage of the Caucasian hospitality and took part in a traditional wedding ceremony. Watch our traditional Dagestan wedding.

13 PHOTOS

1. Traditionally, a wedding in Dagestan lasts three days. If the bride and groom live in the same area, then the wedding is done jointly, if they are from different villages, then each of them has its own celebration. (Photo: Nikolay Rykov, Dmitry Chistoprudov).

2. The joint wedding is played in the new house of the bride and groom, which their families have built for them. In the house, huge tables are set to overflowing with traditional Dagestan dishes and drinks, which were prepared by the relatives of the newlyweds. During the feast near the house, national Dagestan dances do not stop for a minute. (Photo: Nikolay Rykov, Dmitry Chistoprudov).

3. Preparations for the wedding in Dagestan begin ... soon after the birth of the children. Families collect dowries for their daughters, and sons are taught traditional dances and toasts. After the engagement, the wedding preparation process is greatly accelerated. Both families are building a spacious house for the young, which will have everything necessary for the life of a new family by the time of the wedding. (Photo: Nikolay Rykov, Dmitry Chistoprudov).

4. A wedding is a celebration for the entire community. It is not customary to invite guests to a wedding, since all guests come by themselves. According to tradition, every resident of a town or village, at least for a short time, should come to the wedding. (Photo: Nikolay Rykov, Dmitry Chistoprudov).

5. While the bride and her friends and younger sisters are preparing for the wedding, her mother and elderly women from the family are preparing the traditional part of the ceremony - the transfer of her daughter to her future husband, which is accompanied by screams and lamentations. It looks like the bride's farewell to her home. (Photo: Nikolay Rykov, Dmitry Chistoprudov).

6. When the groom arrives at the bride's house, her sister greets him with a joyful traditional dance. This is an important part of the wedding ritual. Before leaving, the mother of the bride gives the newlyweds a taste of honey - according to legends, this should bring them a sweet and long life together. (Photo: Nikolay Rykov, Dmitry Chistoprudov).

7. Earlier in Dagestan, girls were often kidnapped in order to force them to marry. According to local tradition, a girl who spent the night under the same roof with a man should marry him. Otherwise, she was simply expelled from society, it was believed that such a girl was covered in shame. (Photo: Nikolay Rykov, Dmitry Chistoprudov).

8. However, abductions still occur in Dagestan. This usually happens when the girl's family does not agree to the marriage, and the young couple wants to be together no matter what. And also when young people want to get married, contrary to the tradition that does not allow a man to enter into a barque with a girl from a richer family and a higher social status. (Photo: Nikolay Rykov, Dmitry Chistoprudov).

9. Marriages are concluded in Dagestan, as a rule, for life. Divorce is possible, but this is the exception rather than the rule. If a man utters the phrase three times - you are no longer my wife - this means the end of the marriage. The couple will still have to confirm this with the imam, who will formally dissolve their marriage. (Photo: Nikolay Rykov, Dmitry Chistoprudov).

10. When the newlyweds arrive at their new home, the fun begins. At the very beginning of the celebration, some guests are presented with flowers. This is an invitation to dance. If they want to take a break from dancing, then they must give the flower to another guest, and according to tradition, one cannot but take a flower - this is not accepted. Thanks to this tradition, the fun at the Dagestan wedding continues without interruption, while everyone can dance and relax. (Photo: Nikolay Rykov, Dmitry Chistoprudov).

11. At a wedding, men and women dance separately. But as it turned out, it is on such holidays that future spouses meet. (Photo: Nikolay Rykov, Dmitry Chistoprudov).

12. The most important moment at the wedding is the dance of the newlyweds. However, before it begins, the bride must dance with all the men. During this dance, the newlywed spins around, and the man dancing around her throws money that the bridesmaid collects. For this money, the spouses will buy themselves everything they need for the house. It is not customary to give gifts at a wedding in Dagestan. (Photo: Nikolay Rykov, Dmitry Chistoprudov).

13. There is another very interesting tradition in Dagestan. Guests can visit the newlyweds' house at the most inappropriate time, for example, at 4 am. This is a test of how good the young spouse is as a housewife. The hospitable hostess should always set the table, serve tea and snacks to guests at any time of the day or night. (Photo: Nikolay Rykov, Dmitry Chistoprudov).

Municipal state educational institution Lyceum No. 2

the resort town of Zheleznovodsk, Stavropol Territory

Nomination: "Traditions of the peoples of Russia"

Today, when life values ​​have changed their criteria, perhaps many are asking for a child to become a big boss or a wealthy businessman. But everyone wants to remind everyone that the basis of true happiness in both worlds is a person's faith and piety, and it is necessary to educate these main qualities from a very early age.

The wishes of the parents paint the future image of the ideal of a person. In them we see what a person should be like, what he should strive for, what he should strive for.

With the help of Allagya, the people believe in prosperity, luck and that their wishes will come true. After all, the doer of good wishes is the Merciful Allag, and the people believe that He will help them.

It is impossible to characterize the modern Dagestan cuisine unambiguously. Many dishes that were previously not consumed at all or were prepared only on the days of celebrations have now entered the daily menu of every family.

The dishes that exist in each separate region of Dagestan bear a special flavor. For example, in every national region, khinkal is prepared, which is served as a first or second course, but you can always determine what its origin is. Common dishes are "kurze", "miracle", which are prepared from various herbs, cottage cheese, vegetables, eggs, and gourmets who understand a lot about Dagestan cuisine will never be mistaken what nationality the chef prepared this dish.

Dagestan is a multinational republic. Each of its peoples has developed its own cuisine. At the same time, these cuisines have a lot in common: a combination of plant and animal products, relatively simple preparation, high taste qualities of dishes.

All first and second courses are mainly prepared from lamb and beef. By-products are often used - intestines, scar, heart, liver, lungs.

Dishes made from wheat and corn flour are very popular in Dagestan cuisine.

The khinkal dish is a product made of steep dough in the form of rhombuses, ears, dumplings. There are many ways to prepare khinkal in Dagestan. It is served as a first and as a second course.

The most common dishes are kurze (a type of large dumplings) and miracle (pies). Kurze is made from various herbs, cottage cheese with pumpkin and eggs, meat, sautéed onions.

Chudu pies made from unleavened dough are also prepared with various fillings.

Second courses are usually not prepared as such, instead they serve miracle, kurze, etc.

For national cuisine, beans, lentils, peas are widely used, as well as herbs - nettles, watercress, quinoa, etc. Greens are served in Dagestan for lunch and dinner.

Dagestan cuisine is also rich in sweet dishes and drinks. A special delicacy is halva (flour, made from nuts).
Folk life and national art Dagestan is rightly called the reserve of folk arts and crafts, the land of remarkable craftsmen. Here, a wide and widespread development of various types of crafts has long been received - artistic metal processing, stone and wood carving, pottery, carpet weaving, bone processing, patterned knitting and gold embroidery. In the economy of the mountain region in the past, these types of crafts have played and continue to play a very important role. Nowhere in our country did folk arts and crafts acquire such great importance in the economy and spiritual life of the people, did they not have such a massive character as in mountainous Dagestan.

Having originated in ancient times and having gone through a number of stages of their development and improvement, folk crafts have become an integral and integral part of the traditional national artistic culture of Dagestan.

Back in the Middle Ages, large specialized centers for the production of various types of artistic handicrafts were formed in Dagestan, which were widely sold throughout the mountainous region and far beyond its borders. Among them, the villages of Kubachi, Kumukh, Gotsatl, Untsukul, Balkhar, Sulevkent, Akhty, Mikrakh, Khiv, Khuchni and the city of Derbent stood out in terms of the degree of development and the level of perfection of manufactured products.
Handmade carpets were the most valuable items in the Dagestan home. A medium sized carpet could be exchanged for a couple of horses or a few head of cattle. For the money received from the sale of the carpet, the Dagestan family could provide themselves with everything they needed for six months in advance. In the dowry of the Dagestan bride, there were necessarily carpets and sumakhs, and, for example, in Tabasaran, at least one of the carpets had to be woven by the bride herself. With the advent of Soviet power and the organization of artels, carpet weaving in Dagestan received a fertile ground for its development. These enterprises were created by uniting single craftswomen who taught young people their skills. Industrial enterprises for wool processing were also created.

The art of stone carving- folk art, organically existed and developed in the mainstream of the rich decorative and applied art of Dagestan, making up a fairly deep layer in the history of folk art. Monuments of stone-cutting art are scattered throughout Dagestan and constitute, as in past centuries, an integral part of the life and life of a highlander.

In total, today there are about 550 stone Kubachi reliefs. Many of them are kept in the largest museums in the world (Metropolitan Museum, Louvre, Hermitage), foreign private collections and museums of Dagestan (DMII and DGOM). Some of the stones have been preserved in Kubachi itself.

Carved wood

Wood processing among the peoples of Dagestan is one of the most ancient types of handicraft production. The wide spread of forests, a rich variety of wood species (oak, hornbeam, beech, walnut, birch, pine, poplar, etc.), the pliability of the material itself to processing has long contributed to the use of wooden products in the everyday life of Dagestanis and wooden structures in the architecture of their dwellings. The art of artistic woodworking for several millennia has been organically connected with the daily life of the Dagestanis. Various properties of wood were used by folk craftsmen for both technological and decorative purposes.

Carpet weaving, along with jewelry and pottery, is a traditional national craft of many peoples of Dagestan. The greatest development of carpet weaving was in southern Dagestan, which is most likely due to the geographical proximity to one of the main centers of the world carpet art - Persia.

With the adoption of Islam and the spread of the Arabic script, some representatives of the Dagestan masters got the opportunity to join the achievements of Eastern culture.

The first mentions of Dagestan carpets are found in Herodotus. They say that a herd of horses was passed over the finished product, burned under the sun and kept in water. This is how their quality was checked. The craftsmanship of the hand-made Dagestan carpet was passed down from generation to generation, from mother to daughter, while skills were honed and patterns and ornamental compositions were improved.

The art of carpet weaving began more than two and a half thousand years ago. The oldest of the carpets that have come down to us was supposedly woven over two thousand years ago! A dense pile fabric depicting deer, birds and horses was found during excavations of the royal burial mound in 1949. This find testifies to a unique fact: centuries later, the classical technique of hand-weaving carpets has not undergone any changes! Today this masterpiece of centuries adorns the Hermitage collection. Yes, it is a “masterpiece of centuries”, because carpet weaving is an ancient art that goes back to the Ancient East.

Initially, the carpet performed exclusively practical functions: the eastern nomads came up with the idea of ​​weaving warm fabrics in order to be able to quickly create a house. The then man-made carpets served to protect the dwelling from wind and sand, and made it possible to quickly divide the room. Gradually, man began to move away from the primitive philosophy of "warm and dry" - he wanted it to be beautiful, elegant, and most importantly, not like everyone else. For the East, a carpet is furniture, wallpaper, and a sign of prosperity. The level of human well-being in the Ancient East was determined by the quality of the carpets available in his home. In a rich home, there should always be a lot of carpets, and of the highest quality.

The design of handmade carpets is never random. The choice and arrangement of certain elements of the pattern is based on centuries-old traditions, the talent and intention of the master. A certain meaning is encrypted in each ornament. In angular diamond-shaped flowers and leaves with jagged edges, in fine jewelry ligature, in a mosaic pattern, one can read proverbs, legends, wishes to the future owner

Carpet-making in Dagestan emerged as a form of labor activity, but over time it has become one of the brightest types of decorative and applied art in Dagestan.

The rich heritage of folk art, based on age-old traditions, is an integral part of the ethno-artistic culture of the peoples of Dagestan. The works of folk artists reflect the experience of the people, their worldview, worldview and maintain a continuous connection between generations. The products of the Dagestan folk arts and crafts of the past and present are witnesses of great diligence, a subtle sense of beauty and artistic talent of the Dagestan peoples.

May there be peace over the chain of mountains

May evil not touch the native land.

So, conjuring, you weaved the carpet

For a thread, a thread in thought choosing

Mountains and snows were woven into the pattern,

The cry of the cranes and the cloudy feathers

Blooming alpine meadows

Ancient legends and beliefs.

And the carpet bloomed to the flower flower,

As a native Dagestan at the height of summer.

Behind a thread, so from beautiful lines

The creation of the poet is born.