The Ritual of Pahlevani and Zoorkhanei is a collection of rhythmic moving skills, music and dramatic art in a holy place named “Zoorkhane”. In this ritual a group of 10 to 20 men, using tools that symbolically represent the ancient weapons, perform rhythmic and musical, dramatic and ritualistic movements. Zoorkhane, the place for the administration of the Element enjoys a special architecture, a blend of Mithraic temples and Islamic architecture. The major sections of the place include a dome, the arena (Gowd: an octagonal pit, 70cm deep, wherein the rituals are administered and the practitioners stand on specific spots according to age and seniority), the audience seats (overlooking the arena), and “Sardam” wherein the Morshed sits. The Zoorkhane gate is short to encourage bending at the entrance to pay respect toward the holy place. The tools, equipment and sportswear of Zoorkhane are mostly made in the cities of Tehran and Mashhad by skillful craftsmen. In the history of Iran, this Element has been influenced by epical myths and a worldview based on the ancient Iranian ethical trilogy “Good Though, Good Deed, Good Speech”. It roots back to Mithraism in 3000 years ago. This ritual has been and is practiced from the ancient times in most parts of Iran as well as some regions of such neighboring countries as Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan and India. The element enjoys a masculine nature and its practitioners belong to all social strata. Ethical and chivalrous values are instructed under the supervision of a Pahlavan (""champion"", a master in skills and heroic ethics) within the epical poems recited by a Morshed (""preceptor""), accompanied by music and sport rhythmic movements. “Morshed” is a singer who plays “Zarb”, an Iranian percussion instrument, recites epical and mystical poems, and leads and harmonizes chanson with the music and sport-like dramatic movements. The poems that are recited by the Morshed constitute part of Zoorkhanei literature. In the course of the ritual, dramatic, sport-like, musical and acrobatic movements are performed and, finally, the ceremony is ended with prayers that connote expansion of peace and friendship among nations, and resolving the needy people’s hardships. Golrīzān Ceremony: One of the side programs of the Element is the “Golrīzān” Ceremony that is organized as a homage for pioneers (Pīshkesvat's), champions and preceptors, or for collecting financial contributions for the needy, the sick, or orphans. In this ceremony flowers are put at every corner of Zoorkhane, as a sign for invitation for contribution; the collected contributions are, then, secretly granted to the needy, by a group of trustees. The practitioners in the ritual wear special sportswear, usually, consisting of a pair of trunks - decorated with Arabesque drawings- and a t-shirt. On the clothes and some of the Zoorkhanei tools, motifs of Botee-Jeghghe (an abstraction of a bent cypress symbolizing a humble champion) are observed.

Iran 2010

The Mongolian Naadam is inseparably connected to the nomadic civilization of the Mongols who have practiced pastoralism on Central Asia’s vast steppe for centuries. Mongols’ traditional Naadam festival consisting of three manly games is considered as one of major cultural heritage elements which Mongols contributed to the nomadic civilizations. The three types of sports games – archery, horserace and wrestling – are directly linked with lifestyles and living conditions of Mongols and thus become the authentic cultural traditions among nomads. National Naadam is celebrated from July 11 to 13 throughout the country, in soums (counties), aimags (provinces), and the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Naadam represents distinct features of Mongolians’ nomadic culture and traditions, with expression of their unique cultural characteristics and images to become an identity of Mongolian people to the outside world. Thus, Mongolian Naadam has served a key factor to unite the Mongolian people and an important symbol of national solidarity. Mongolian people develop their physical strength, strong will power, patience, space and time related sensitivity and friendly hospitality from the three manly games which provides the cognitive and moral education basis. Main bearers of this cultural heritage are practitioners of the three games. i.e. those who significant part of the Mongolia population. Currently, over 100,000 people practice the traditional wrestling in various clubs and training courses, in addition to 3,000 students studying in several wrestling universities and colleges. Besides, the home schooling is considered one of most effecient forms, as it is the main traditional method to teach and learn the wrestling. Youths who practice wrestling would develop postive personalities such as being friendly, caring to the elderly and modest, besides strong will power, physical strength and courage. The main bearers of horserace appear racehorse trainers and jokey-children. Nowadays, about 400-500 horserace tournaments take place annually and altogether 200,000 horses (some recounted across tournaments) participate in them. About 100,000 racehorse trainers normally train these horses, while over 70,000 children ride and race. Besides, the audience of those tournaments would reach over 300,000 people. The Mongolian traditional home schooling provides extensive knowledge and skills, traditions and customs, culture and art elements of horserace. Compared to other two forms, relatively fewer people (about 10,000) practice and are interested in archery. Similarly, home schooling methods tend to dominate in learning and transmitting archery that family members and relatives become archers a lot. There are hundreds of thousand artisans and craftmen who make various tools and items used in the three manly games through employing meticulous skills and design to make them as collections of various art pieces. For instance, wrestling outfits – hat, boots and shorts, racehorse saddles and jokey’s outfits, and bows and arrows used in archery competitions have specific traditional technology and techniques each. These three sports games make a core blend of traditional arts and sports. Title-singing of horses and wrestlers indicate musical elements embracing songs and melodies. • Wrestling. After the wrestling site has been chosen based on the quality of the grass and the flatness of the site, the wrestling matches begin. Judges in groups of 8, 16, or 32 are divided into two groups which line up at the right and left side of the wrestling site and the wrestlers are divided into two groups at the left and right wings. To present the wrestler to the audience, judges will hold the participant's hat and sing praise songs while the wrestler performs an eagle dance before assuming the position to begin. Wrestling is not only a display of strength and bravery; it is also a competition of skill and technique. The object of the match is to make one’s competitor to fall on the ground with his elbows, knees or any other part of the body touching the ground, at which point he loses. Wrestlers who lose in each round will get eliminated from the tournament. The number of rounds differs from tournament to tournament. There are often 9 rounds at the national festival which takes place on July 11-12 annually and altogether 512 wrestlers wrestle. A half leaves after each round. From the fifth round, winning wrestlers can earn titles starting from hawk, falcon, elephant, garuda /mythical bird/, and lion, to the coveted champion. Wrestlers are divided into two groups or so-called ‘wings’ that the highest ranking wrestlers are listed at the top depending on their titles, such as first grand champions, then champions, lions, garudas, elephants, hawks, falcons etc. • Horserace. Horse-trainers choose potential race horses among horse flocks and train them meticulously, carefully adjusting their daily training and diet. Horse races are grouped in age-specific categories such as stallions, adults, 4-years old, 3-years old, 2-years old and 1-year old which race in different distance categories from 10 km to 30 km. Race horses have their mane and tails trimmed to improve their appearance while their trainers use specially crafted wooden sticks or a brush to remove the sweat from the horse after the race. These sweat-removing tools are often carved and decorated with traditional patterns and images of horses to symbolize their strength. Young riders wear special clothing including the deel and hat. Typically, children aged 6-10 years old jockey racehorses. When registration of the applicant horses is completed, the race administrator rides around the Naadam site three times, while children riding race horses sing ‘Giingoo’ to raise spirits of horses before racing. The winning horse is given the title of ‘Tumnii ekh’ (the mightiest of all), whereas the last horse in the race is given a nickname ‘Buren jargal’ “complete happiness”. The praise song is performed to congratulate winning horses and is called ‘singing titles’. • Archery. This competition is divided into two categories; Khana sur (big bow) and Khasaa sur (small bow). Men shoot from a distance of 75 meters to the target, and women from 65 meters. The target is called ‘zurkhai’, and is made of leather balls neatly lined along the flat ground in two rows. Each archer shoots 40 arrows and the one who shoots the most targets wins.

Mongolia 2010

Mongols have traditionally shown a great respect for the horse, honoring it in their national standards and symbols (flags and emblems) and in their folk songs. Morin khuur clearly belongs to this symbolic tradition. Morin khuur, so named for the ornamental horse-head carving at the top of its neck, is a unique two-stringed musical instrument developed by the nomadic Mongols. The strings of both the bow and fiddle are made from the hair of a horse’s tail. Most significantly, there is a tradition of playing the morin khuur at all ritual and ceremonial events. No discussion of the morin khuur would be complete without having considered the folk ‘long song’, for which it provides the principal accompaniment. Besides Bii Biylgee and folk long song, many other folk artistic forms such as Ülger (tales), Tuuli (epic), Yörööl (benediction), Magtaal (ode) and others can always be performed with morin khuur.

Mongolia 2008

Falak is a traditional folklore music genre of the Tajik people. Falak means «heaven, fortune or universe». The structure of Falak is most often in one section and can form an interlude within a performance. The quatrains or couplet sung by the falak-singers are emotionally expressive and are rich with the philosophy and expressions of destitution of human life.

Tajikistan 2021

Communities in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and in particular, communities of the outer islands of Yap state, continue the age-old indigenous traditions of building long distance ocean voyaging sailing canoes from local materials; and of traditional ocean navigation (wayfinding) without maps or instruments. As such, these communities preserve (their local versions of) the technical and intellectual traditions which are the last vestiges of indigenous traditions involving crafts, sustainable materials, design, mathematics and navigational reasoning. These traditions and technologies made possible the settlement of thousands of islands across the entire vast Pacific Ocean. These traditions are now lost in most Pacific nations. It is of note that the much celebrated Polynesian seafaring renaissance, and the history-changing voyages of the Hokule’a, would not have occurred without the involvement of a Micronesian master navigator, Mau Piailug, who taught the Hawaiians navigation skills long lost in their own culture. In addition to celestial navigation, the traditional wayfinders use a huge variety of environmental cues, including: atmospheric phenomena (the gathering of clouds over islands beyond the horizon); the subtle perturbations of swells caused by islands beyond the horizon; the behavior of (long distance flying but land based) seabirds and the occurrence of other air and water species.

Micronesia 2021

Kumbh Mela (the festival of the sacred Pitcher), is the largest peaceful congregation of pilgrims where people bathe or take a dip in a sacred river. Held at Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik every four years by rotation, the Kumbh at Prayag/Allahabad is the most significant. Ardha ("Half") Kumbh Mela is held at only two places, Haridwar and Allahabad, every sixth year. It is held on the banks of the rivers - Ganga in Prayag, Saraswati in Haridwar, Godavari in Nashik and Shipra in Ujjain. A great fair is held on these occasions on the banks of the rivers. Devout believe that by bathing in the Ganges one is freed from their sins liberating them from the cycle of birth and death. A unique facet is that millions of people reach the place without any invitation. Mythology says the gods and the demons fought for the pot with the nectar of immortality. Lord Vishnu, disguising himself as an enchantress (Mohini), seized the nectar. While fleeing from the evil ones, Lord Vishnu passed the nectar on to his winged mount, Garuda. In the ensuing struggle, a few drops of the precious nectar fell on Allahabad, Nasik, Haridwar and Ujjain. Since then, the Kumbh Mela has been held in these places. The astrological sequence of the stars are the basis for the Kumbh locations. As Jupiter enters in Aquarius and Sun enters Aries the Kumbh is held at Haridwar, Jupiter enters Aries and Sun and Moon in Capricorn at Prayag and so on.

India 2017

Turkish coffee culture and tradition goes back to the 16th century when coffee started to be served at coffeehouses in Istanbul. The tradition has two distinguished aspects which make its taste unique and provide means toward socialization. As a beverage Turkish coffee carries special preparation and brewing techniques. It is one of the oldest coffee making methods still in use. The traditional techniques used in preparing coffee led to development of special tools and silverware such as like the boiling pot (cezve), coffee cup (fincan), mortars which have artistic value. Turkish Coffee leaves a long lasting taste at someone’s palate due to its preparation techniques which require time and its freshness. It is softer, more aromatic and more concentrated than other types of coffee. It is easy to distinguish from other coffees with its aroma, ground and foam peculiar to it. Turkish Coffee is not only a beverage but also a communal practice that brings together cultural spaces, social values and beliefs within a context of socialization process. Its role socialization can be traced back to opening of the first coffeehouses with its noticeable decorations in Istanbul. Coffee houses were then, and still are the places where people drink coffee, converse, share news, read books and socialize. The tradition itself is a symbol of hospitality, friendship, delicacy, and entertainment. All these are reflected in the famous Turkish proverb “the memory of a cup of coffee lasts for forty years.” This saying represents how important and profound coffee is in Turkish culture.

Turkey 2013

Wood carving and wood product manufacture among the Kyrgyz originated in ancient times. An example is the manufacture of wooden parts of the yurt, komuz, which have become the pinnacle of the handicraft creativity of the people. Modern travelers are very familiar with the Kyrgyz yurt, construction of which is made only of wood by the true masters. Wood items decorated with carvings and paintings have been harmoniously fit into the complex of interior of the yurt. These are chests ‘sandyk’, wooden bases on which felt mats, carpets and bedding items are placed; coffrets for food, cloth and horse gear hangers ‘ala bakan’; boxes for dishes, stirrer for kymyz ‘pishkek’, biler for drinks and other liquids, wooden blocks for lamps – ‘chirak paya’. Woodworks are done by the men named as ‘jygach usta’. Materials used for different woodworks depend on elasticity or firmness of the wooden species: birch, cottonwood, sump-weed, juniper or nut-tree. They are cut easily and flexible enough to get desired shape. Instruments used in woodworks are: saw, adze, single bitted axe, knife, hewing with blade in the form of groove, hatchet with plane, wood auger, strop used to make walls of the yurt.

Seasonal customs and rituals circle is a kind of encyclopedia of the life of the people. Uzbekistan also has a number of seasonal rites and holidays. Uzbek seasonal celebrations should be classified as follows: 1) winter parties or circles (gap gastak); 2) spring holidays – Navruz, Shohmoylar (harnessing of bulls in soha, i.e. the beginning of plowing), Holidays of tulips and roses, Loy tutish (clay supply, i.e. the beginning of building a house), etc.; 3) from summer celebrations, the "Qovun saili" (melon festival), "Choi momo" etc; 4) autumn holidays related to harvesting - Mehrgan, "Uzum saili" (grape festival), etc.

Islam plays a large role in the social and family life of Uzbeks. At the same time, Uzbeks cannot be called fanatical Muslims - for all the multifaceted nature of local life, there is always a lot of secular in it, and the tolerance of local residents is widely known outside the country. As you know, a faithful Muslim must turn to God five times a day at a certain time ("namaz"), voluntarily deduct from his income the benefits of the poor or for godly deeds, during the month of Ramazan observe fasting, make a pilgrimage, etc. Many Uzbeks try to follow these requirements. Also, religious customs and traditions of Uzbeks include the celebration of Kurban bayram and Iid al-Fitr, attend Friday prayers, take seriously their family duties, perform charity and other godly deeds.

The libation ceremony starts with horses are gathered and brought to the tethering line at sunrise. At first, the first-born foal is caught and hitched to the tethering line. When catchers finish tethering the foals, they place their lasso poles in row at the back of the ger. All gathered people can then enter the ger and have tea. Then they go out of the ger, where upon the milking of mare begins. The first mare is milked by a man. This is vistage of ancient tradition. After milking the mares, a milk libation ceremony is performed. The general proceeding is the same as other feast proceedings. But their contents are different. It reflects the manner and movement of tethering foals or colts and mare's ferment milk-libation.

December 23rd and 24th of every lunar year are, for Mongolians, the days of worshiping fire. The worshiping of fire of the Mongols has traversed many centuries, undergone various changes, and adapted to diverse local spaces, but its general tenor is the same. The preparation for worship is the first act of these rituals. Then the fire deity is invited. Offerings are made to them. Then the ode to fire is recited, and a prayer and statement for fire deities and a benediction are uttered. Then we entrust the fire deity to make the devotees healthy and wealthy and solicit offering in a melodious tune. The offerings of worship were shared with all the participants.