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Nomad Heritage

Terisakkan Spring Festival of Horse Breeders: Biye Baylau greasing a peg
  • Manage No PI00006613
    Country Kazakhstan
    Year 2015-05-02
    ICH Domain Social practices, rituals, festive events, Knowledge and practices about nature and the universe
Description 'Tether a foal' - this is the rite and a part of the Terisakkan Spring Festival of Horse Breeders. It is a component of the Biye Baylau. A woman is greasing a peg for tethering a foal with May (butter) to ensure blessing and favorable sacral attitude. Traditional spring festive rites of the Kazakh horse breeders – taking place in Terisakkan Village – mark the end of the previous and the beginning of the new yearly horse-breeding cycle. Rooted in traditional knowledge about nature and the age-old relations between man and horse, the rites involve skills inherited from nomadic ancestors, adapted to present-day reality. The rites take around three weeks in total, until the koumiss sharing ceremonies, which take place in every household, are over. The rites open a new yearly cycle of reproduction and manifest traditional Kazakh hospitality. Faced with the forced transition in the twentieth century from a nomadic way of life to a settled one, bearers have adapted the traditional form of horse breeding to meet present-day conditions to ensure its continued viability.
Photographer Sergey Bolotin (Mr)
Place Terisakkan, Ulytau District, Karaganda Province File Size 5.76 MB
Definition 3108 x 2832 File Format jpg
Copyright Sergey Bolotin; Kazakhstan ICH Committee Copyright
Keyword
Information source
Kazakhstan National Committee for Intangible Cultural Heritage

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