They were sewn from fine fabrics, trimmed with fur, embellished with silver adornments and jewelry, decorated with hand-embroidery, etc. These were magnificent pieces, often real works of art. In the second half of the 19th century, wealthy Kyrgyz cattlemen started to buy ready-made clothes, often imported from the neighboring countries. This led to some enrichment of the local culture by features typical for other Central Asian countries, like embroidery motifs, jewelry pieces, and even clothing cuts and styles.
In the modern day, Kyrgyz people still preserve and honor their traditions, and clothing traditions as well. The local national garments are still worn by Kyrgyz men and women, but mostly for holidays, festivities, weddings, and other special occasions.
In day-to-day life, people prefer contemporary clothes. But there is also an assortment of modern garments but with some authentic detail and adornments — sort of a combination of contemporary fashion and tradition. Such garments are totally available — not too expensive and easy to find, so a lot of people wear them these days. Here are some dolls wearing rather accurate tiny Kyrgyz traditional outfits. Name required. It was inherent in peculiar features typical of the clothes of nomads, which finds an explanation for the whole historically established way of life associated with nomadic cattle breeding.
Climatic conditions also had a great influence on clothes, the Kyrgyz prevailed a warm look of clothing on a cotton basis or from the fur of wild animals. Since the main trade lines of the Great Silk Road passed through the lands of the Kyrgyz tribes and Central Asia, Kyrgyz involved in international trade and were well aware of the textile production of neighboring peoples.
Joining our handicraft tour you would know more about Kyrgyz traditional clothing and arts. The main dressing is- shirt — koinok and harem pants. The headdresses of the girls usually decorated with feathers of birds, various ornaments sewn to them: silver, pearls, coral, etc.
There were such types of headwear for girls — a skullcap — topu and a fur hat — tebetei. A short or long sleeveless jacket — chyptama, a camisole with short sleeves — kemelsel, a quilted robe — chepken, chapan — put on over a shirt dress. Women used to have long velvet stripes in the form of tubes, in which braids were hidden — chachkap.
Various decorations were sewn on them. The first day consists of the bride and groom going to the city with friends and classmates to have the marriage license signed. The bride wears a Western-style wedding dress, and the couple's car is decorated with wedding rings or a doll in bridal clothes.
On the second day the bride and groom celebrate separately with their friends and family. There is food and dancing through the night. On the third day the bride and her family travel to the groom's family's house. The bride is expected to cry, because she is leaving her family.
At the groom's house there are more celebrations and games. Gifts are exchanged between the couple's parents. At the end of the night, a bed is made from the bride's dowry. Two female relatives of the groom are chosen to make sure that the marriage is consummated and that the bride was a virgin.
If the groom is the youngest son he lives with his parents and takes care of them in their old age. The new bride is known as a kelin, and it is her responsibility to take over the household duties from her mother-in-law. If the groom is not the youngest, the couple will live with his family only until they can provide the couple with a house. An alternate marriage tradition is that of wife-stealing. A man may kidnap any unmarried woman and make her his wife. Usually the girl spends one night alone with her future husband.
The next day she is taken to meet her mother-in-law, who ties a scarf around the girl's head to indicate that she is now married. She may run away, and it is legal to sue the man who steals her, but it is shameful to do so and unlikely that another man would marry her. Often a lesser bride price is still paid after a girl is stolen, but a dowry is not provided.
Girls may be stolen when they are fifteen or sixteen years old. Polygamy is not practiced, but it is common for people to have lovers when they are married. It is more acceptable for men to do so, and they may refer to their mistresses as their second wives. More than one in five couples get divorced. Domestic Unit. Because of the tradition of the youngest son taking care of his parents, it is common for a family to consist of grandparents, parents, and children.
Individuals live with their parents until they marry. Most families have three or more children, with larger families common in rural villages. Members of the extended family also may visit and live with the immediate family for months at a time. The youngest son lives with his parents until their deaths, at which time he inherits the house and the livestock.
He may decide to share this livestock with his brothers, and is expected to do so if they are in need. Daughters do not inherit from their parents because they become members of their husbands' families.
Kin Groups. Tribal ties were important just after independence, but now regional ties are more important. Favoritism for those from the same tribe or region is common. There are three main tribal branches: the ong, sol and the ichkilik. Within these branches there are many smaller tribes.
Tribes become important during marriage. Two people from the same tribe may not marry, unless they do not share a common ancestor for seven generations. Infant Care. Infants are primarily cared for by their mothers or other female family members. For the first forty days of an infant's life, he or she cannot be taken outside the home or be seen by anyone but the immediate family.
Infants are strapped into their cradles much of the time and quieted when they make noise. When a mother visits another woman the mother usually will take her infant along. A child is rarely taken from his or her mother without the child's consent, and sometimes bribes are used to make the child reach out to another family member. Child Rearing and Education. Children are expected to be quiet. They are not brought to parties or official functions, and so are prevented from disturbing guests.
Girls begin to take on household duties when they are six or seven years old. By the time she is sixteen, the eldest daughter may be responsible for running the household. Boys are considered rowdy and active and often have fewer household chores.
Education is mandatory for both boys and girls. Public schools are found in all towns and villages, and they offer schooling from first to eleventh grade. Woman making sour cream in Kjety Oguz, Kyrgyzstan. Higher Education. Primary and secondary education are free and nearly universal within Kyrgyzstan. Higher education is highly prized but expensive, and there is little financial aid.
The most important element of etiquette is respect. Respect is given to elders and authority figures. Verbal respect is given by using the polite pronoun and endings, and by using the titles eje older sister and baikay or aga older brother.
People always use these polite forms, even with close friends and relatives. Respect also is shown physically. Men and women alike will give up their seats to elders on public transportation. A person's position at a table also shows his or her status. Men and women usually sit on opposite sides of a table, with the eldest and most respected at the head of the table, farthest from the door.
Strangers do not usually acknowledge each other while passing on the street. Any close contact, however, such as sitting near each other on public transportation or making a transaction at the bazaar, will open the way to introductions. It is common to invite new acquaintances into the home. Friends greet each other differently in the north and the south. In the south, men and women both greet friends of the same gender by shaking hands, often with the left hand over the heart.
The opposite gender usually is ignored. Greetings are a series of questions with no pause and spoken over the other person's greetings. Older women and female relatives often will kiss on the cheek while shaking hands. The Arabic greeting assalom aleikum is frequently used between men. In the north, greetings are shorter, and only men shake hands with each other. Assalom aleikum is used only by a younger man to an elder, as a form of deep respect. Good-byes in both the north and the south are brief.
There is less personal space than in the United States, and strangers brush against each other in public without apologizing. People tend to sit shoulder-to-shoulder, and physical affection is common between members of the same sex. People usually don't form lines. Pushing to the front of a group for service is normal and inoffensive. In the more conservative south, men and women often occupy separate rooms at large celebrations. Boys and girls do not commonly befriend each other.
Bread is considered sacred by the Kyrgyz and must never be placed on the ground or left upside down. It is never thrown away, and leftovers are fed to animals. At the end of a meal, a quick prayer may be said. This is from the Qur'an, but it honors the ancestors.
The hands are held out, palms up, and then everyone at the table cover their face in unison while saying omen. Religious Beliefs. The Kyrgyz consider themselves Sunni Muslim but do not have strong ties to Islam. They celebrate the Islamic holidays but do not follow Islamic practices daily.
Many areas were not converted to Islam until the eighteenth century, and even then it was by the mystical Sufi branch, who integrated local shamanistic practices with their religion. Ethnic Russians and Ukrainians tend to be Orthodox Christians. Religious Practitioners. In the past, the Kyrgyz people relied on shamans as healers. Some theorize that the manaschis were originally shamanistic and that the Manas epic is derived from calling on ancestor spirits for help. There are still professional shamans, called bakshe, and usually there are elders who know and practice shamanistic rituals for families and friends.
The Islamic mullah is called for marriages, circumcisions, and burials. Rituals and Holy Places. Both graves and natural springs are holy places to the Kyrgyz people. Cemeteries stand out on hilltops, and graves are marked with elaborate buildings made of mud, brick, or wrought iron.
Visitors say prayers and mark the graves of holy people or martyrs with small pieces of cloth tied to the surrounding bushes. Natural springs that come from mountainsides are honored in the same fashion. Death and the Afterlife. Burials are done in Islamic fashion, but funerals are not.
Contrary to Islamic law, the body will remain on display for two or three days so that all close family members have time to arrive and say good-bye. When someone dies, a boz-ui must be erected. This is the traditional home of the nomadic Kyrgyz, a round, domed tent made of wool felt on a collapsible wooden frame. A man is laid out inside on the left, while a woman is laid on the right.
Only women are allowed inside the boz-ui to lament, while men mourn through the tent wall, from the outside. The wife and daughters of the deceased sit by the body to sing mourning songs and greet each person who comes to view the body. A wife wears black, while daughters wear deep blue. As each visitor pays respects, the mullah recites from the Qur'an. The burial usually takes place at noon. The body is washed and wrapped in a shroud, then cloth, and then sometimes a felt rug.
The body is displayed outside the boz-ui and a final prayer, the janaza, is said. Only men go to the cemetery for[fj] the burial, but the women visit the grave early the next day. Every Thursday for the next forty days the family must kill a sheep in remembrance. At this time, those who could not attend the funeral may come to pay their respects. At the end of the forty-day period there is a large memorial feast called kirku, where a horse or a cow is killed. On the first anniversary another memorial feast is given, called ash or jildik, which takes place over two days.
The first day is for grieving, and the second is for games and horse races. The Kyrgyz believe that the spirits of the dead can help their descendants. Ancestors are "offered" food in prayers, and people pour water on graves when they visit so the dead will not be thirsty. It is forbidden to step on a grave, and cemeteries are placed on hilltops because high places are sacred.
A produce vendor places eggplants in a customer's bag at the Osh Market. Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Many people still go to the hospital for most illnesses, as they did before independence, but health care is limited by lack of funds. Food and medicine are not provided by the hospital, so friends and family must bring these in daily.
Traditional beliefs blame cold for most forms of illness: Sitting on cold stones or the ground can result in grave illnesses or hurt a woman's reproductive organs; drinking cold beverages will result in a sore throat or a cold; being exposed to cold drafts is considered the cause of most minor illnesses.
People treat illnesses by wrapping a blanket or a shawl around the affected body part to keep it warm. Some home remedies that derive from shamanistic beliefs are still practiced as well. Certain grasses are burned because the smoke is believed to purify the air and to prevent sickness. The air above and the waters of Lake Issyk-Kul are attributed healing properties, and swimming in the lake is a popular cure for tuberculosis.
Most holidays are celebrated with parties at work and at home that involve eating, drinking, dancing, and singing. New Year's Eve is more elaborate, and many of the traditions come from Russian practices. There are costume parties, as well as performances at schools.
At these performances, Det Moroze called Ayaz-Ata in Kyrgyz and his granddaughter give presents to good children. Det Morose wears a robe trimmed in fur and rides in a horse-drawn sleigh. Naughty children are chased by the witch Baba Yaga. People decorate yulkes, or fir trees, with garlands, ornaments, and lights, and set off fireworks at midnight.
Kyrgyz people follow the Chinese zodiac, where each year is assigned an animal, and people whose sign is the same animal as the incoming year must wear something red and then give it away for good luck. Support for the Arts. Support for the arts mostly comes from selling pieces or paid performances. There is little to no funding available from the government. Kyrgyz was not written until the twentieth century.
The epic Manas is most widely known, and is still widely performed by manaschis. It is not a memorized piece; the best manaschis take the outline of the story and improvise verses, which have a distinct rhythmic beat and are accompanied by expressive hand gestures. Thirteen versions and four million verses have been recorded.
During the twentieth century, novel-writing in the historical and romance genres developed. The best-known Kyrgyz novelist is Chingiz Aitmatov, who is known for his critical novels about life in Soviet Central Asia.
Graphic Arts. Traditional crafts are taught in school, and the graphic arts are well developed. In most cases artisans create objects to be sold either as souvenirs to tourists or as heirlooms for people's homes.
Some are displayed in the National Gallery or in museums abroad. Most of these are done in wool or silk, including the wool carpets called shirdaks and alakiis, embroidered wall hangings called tush-kiis, and small animal or human figures.
Wood, horn, leather, and clay are also used. There are a number of painters as well, whose works are sold mostly to foreigners. These often have traditional Kyrgyz themes but often use modern and postmodern styles of painting. Galleries and art exhibits are almost exclusively in the capital city. Performance Arts. Kyrgyz folk singing and music lessons are frequently offered in schools.
There are several Kyrgyz children's performance groups, which feature traditional songs and dance as well as performances using Kyrgyz instruments. The best-known instruments are the komuz a three-stringed lute , oz-komuz mouth harp , the chopo choor clay wind instrument , and the kuiak a four-stringed instrument played with a bow.
There also are adult folk, classical, and operatic musicians and groups who perform in the capital regularly. Popular television shows feature Kyrgyz pop and folk singers and musicians. There is a small but active film industry. The State of the Physical and Social Sciences. Scientists teach at the university level, but funding for research is limited. Most scientists have moved to other professions for financial reasons. Abazov, Rafis.
Anderson, John R. Kyrgyzstan: Central Asia's Island of Democracy,
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