The Caucasus ... How many people have only heard about its beauties! And yet, one who has not been there personally will not be able to convey in words how perfect he is. Amazing landscapes, clear mountain rivers, green valleys full of abundance and starry sky above your head.
And this wonderful world could not have survived like this until today, if not for the people who care about it. Those who care about the state of their home.
General impression
The Avar people, who make up the largest population of Dagestan , are just as caring . Until our time, they managed to carry through the centuries the original traditions of their ancestors, which gained great fame in other countries and became their attraction. Thus, a wedding ceremony plays a huge role in the life of Avars, and not only for the bride and groom.
The Avar wedding is a holiday for the whole settlement, and therefore about a thousand people sometimes gather on it. And all these people sincerely want to celebrate this important event with the young and see their joy and happiness. And they all participate in numerous ceremonies, thereby showing their wish for prosperity and love to the newlyweds.
An Avar wedding is an incredibly colorful noisy spectacle where people of all ages have fun, and the host is managing it all - a person specially appointed before the festival. In some places it is also called "shah". Usually they are asked to become a respected family member or important friend. He leads the whole process, makes sure that the traditions of the Avar wedding are respected, that all guests actively participate and enjoy the fun, and it lasts far from one day.
Conspiracy of matchmakers
One of the important surviving customs is a conspiracy marriage. Its essence lies in the matchmaking of the bride and groom by the parents, even if the young themselves are completely unfamiliar with each other. Almost all Avar weddings in Dagestan were played that way, and often became the moment of the first meeting of the newlyweds.
However, if for European countries this may seem wild, such marriages are extremely strong and bring only happiness to both. This outcome is also achieved with unquestioning respect and trust in parental opinion, which has been lost to some extent by modern Western nations. A special part of the wedding is the payment of kalym - a kind of payment to the bride, which can be either full material or purely symbolic.
It depends on the arrangement of the matchmakers, however, in any case, this marriage gift is an important attribute of marriage and is made out by the mullah. According to the Qur'an, kalym is paid to the wife as some guarantee of marriage, but the Shariah prefers to give the ransom to her parents.
How to choose
Parents are very careful when choosing a future bride or groom for their child. The next of kin also participated in this, and when searching for a girl, first of all, her hard work, restraint, good breeding and health were taken into account. After all, a wife, by their definition, should not only be an excellent housewife in the house, able to keep him clean and always properly receive guests, but also strong enough to bring healthy children, future heirs to the world. Of course, her origin was also taken into account, so they usually looked for her among their class.
Stages
An Avar wedding is usually held in two stages. The first is in the bride's house, the second is in the groom's house. And before this, the matchmaking certainly takes place, which is itself a rather entertaining and interesting process. To do this, the groom’s family must repeatedly invite the future bride’s father to visit, conditionally, “until the matchmaker’s shoes wear out”, treat him with the best dishes and delicacies and make an offer to his daughter’s hand.
Then the betrothal took place, in which the groom was already visiting the girl’s house with multiple gifts and treats. At the same time, they should be valuable, since later they are put on public display by the neighbors so that they can appreciate them and the spouse. Also, the Avar wedding as a celebration of the Islamic people cannot be held without a religious ceremony. However, she passed without a bride and was performed on the previous or present wedding day.
Farewell to parents
And, of course, like any important celebration, the Avar wedding was magnificent and fun and required lengthy preparation. Almost all the women of the village are involved in this, because so many guests can’t get enough food, and therefore everyone begins to cook in a few days. However, even if the Avar wedding in the mountains is fun, noise and joy, its final stage - entering the bride into the groom's house - is the culmination and the saddest moment of the whole holiday. As the steps of the newlyweds are thrown at them with sweets and coins, so that their further journey is sweet and comfortable. And this peak means that the girl forever leaves the house of her parents and goes into the family of her husband.