Matchmaking includes preliminary negotiations between future newlyweds, their families and official matchmaking ( "kudalash").

Earlier, in the case of marriage by prior agreement between the parents of both parties, kudalash was a continuation of negotiations and began with several visits by the groom’s relatives to the bride’s parents. When the girl turned 10-12 years old, they came with gifts, reminding her of the conspiracy. Such meetings continued annually up to adulthood brides Throughout this time, furs (fox, sable or otter) were sent from the groom's house to the bride's home for sewing women's hats), leather (for future narrowed shoes), various materials(velvet, silk, felt for sewing women's clothing, bedding) and so on. This personified the division of responsibilities in the family: the husband is the breadwinner, supplier of raw materials, and the wife is the keeper of the hearth, the creative principle, the “processor.” Subsequently, the bride's dowry was made up of those household items and clothing that were created from materials provided by the groom.

When the time for the bride’s handing over (“Jöp јetse”) arrived, the groom’s side performed kudalash, and the opposite side held a celebration in honor of this event. The celebration, accompanied by certain rituals, ended with the guests taking the bride to the groom, covering her with a curtain (“kozhögö”). To seal the marriage of the newlyweds, a traditional wedding ceremony took place in the new village. On this day, the groom’s relatives organized a celebration of “bringing the bride” (“kys ekelgeni”).

The result of kudalash was the appointment of a wedding day. So both sides began preparations for the celebration.

Today Life became faster, and wedding rituals underwent changes along with it. So, from matchmaking to the wedding itself, it takes from several months to one year. Modern marriages among Altaians are concluded on the initiative of the young; preliminary agreement between parents is no more common among Altaians than among other peoples of Russia. However, the institution of matchmaking itself has been preserved and is an obligatory element of the Altai wedding. As in the old days, it begins with the parents and respected relatives of the groom paying a visit to the parents of the bride, and ends with the groom's relatives visiting other relatives of the bride specified by her parents. The content of such visits is to communicate about the upcoming marriage, get to know each other and show respect to the future matchmakers. Residents of the Ongudaysky, Shebalinsky and Ust-Kansky districts visit the bride's relatives separately. As is customary among Altai people, they don’t go to visit people empty-handed. Tea and sweets are traditional treats. They also often take with them a vessel of milk tied with sacred ribbons (“јalama”). in Ulagansky and Kosh-Agachsky districts - the bride’s relatives gather in one place on the agreed day. Then matchmaking is a small celebration where relatives from both sides are present.

One of the trends recent years is that the tradition of gathering the bride’s relatives for matchmaking in one place is also adopted by residents of the “upper” districts - Ust-Kansky, Shebalinsky and Ongudaysky. In conditions where people of the same kind no longer live all close together, in one ravine, but are distributed throughout the republic and beyond, this approach seems justified and reasonable to us. This allows the parties to save both time and money - resources that will be needed when organizing a wedding.

Matchmaking has (“јаҥар”), which are performed by the groom’s side.

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The traditional wedding ritual of the Altai people is one of their ways of life, which changed and developed along with their material and spiritual culture. Holding a modern Altai wedding differs from ancient traditions. Moreover, each individual region of the Altai Republic has developed its own individual rituals, characteristic only for this area. However, the general model of conducting wedding celebration continues to this day.

If the stolen bride was with the groom's relatives, the wedding began at his parents' place with a meeting of guests from her side. They arrived at the village no later than noon, but they were expected with light refreshments on the way and played ritual games of tepshi blaazhary (they had to take away a wooden dish with meat). At the end of the meeting, the matchmakers were treated to food and escorted to the wedding village, where a reception was organized.

The bride's relatives flaunted part of the dowry they had delivered. Before bringing him to the village, they performed a ritual game called deyozhe sadara - the sale of a dowry: offering various property, the women on the bride’s side praised him, “demanding” a symbolic ransom in return. The bride's nephew, dressed in the clothes of a married woman, took part in the game. It was offered with the words: “Who needs a girl, buy it!” The dowry was also brought to the village in the form of a ritual game, during which the groom’s side presented various treats or arak.

After the ritual ransom, the women of both sides began to design a new village. Then the groom's relatives followed the bride, taking with them juniper branches - archina, treats, and festive clothes from the dowry. A curtain was carried in front - kozhegyo, a relative of the groom walked on the left, and a relative of the bride on the right. The guests entered the village, where the bride was abducted during the marriage by prior agreement, singing. The wife of the groom's elder brother performed the ritual of sprinkling the fire of the owners' hearth. Having bought the bride, they dressed her in a girl’s outfit and, covering her with kozhegyo, led her to a new wedding village. She covered her face with her cuffed hands. Subsequent rituals were the same for all forms of marriage.

The bride was escorted to the village by the groom's parents (daan village). Before entering, they fumigated her with juniper, the future mother-in-law treated her with milk and blessed her. After which, having covered the kozhegyo, she was led twice around the new home, entered it, the girl was seated in the place of honor in the female half, facing towards the entrance, oriented to the east. Thus began the culminating wedding ceremony - the ceremony of braiding the bride's hair (chach yoryori). Women with many children and happy marriages took part in it.

Behind the curtain, the girl was dressed in the clothes of a married woman (chegedek), accompanying the action with ritual singing, they took off the girl's braids (shanki), unbraided her hair, combed it, made a straight parting dividing her head into equal halves - a sign of a woman's lot. Then two braids were braided: the left one by the woman from the groom’s seok, the right one by the bride, which symbolized the transition of the bride from one family to another. Having tied the ends of the braids, they laid them on the chest, and put on the head a pointed hat of a married woman (kuraan beryuk). With wishes of prosperity, the young woman was treated to milk. Shankylu bala became a kelin - a married woman.

Közhögyo is a taboo object and should not be touched with hands. To show the wedding participants the bride hiding behind it, the groom's father or uncle opened it with the handle of a whip, the butt of a gun, or two or three branches of juniper (archyn). At the same time, he gave instructions to his daughter-in-law: “Don’t say my name. Don't cross my path. Honor your elder as your elder." Then he attached the kozhegyo to a permanent place - near the newlyweds’ bed. After that, boiled shin and sternal rib of a ram were tied to birch trees as a sign of wishing the young people a prosperous life. In relation to the one who opened the curtain in married life, the bride observed the custom of avoidance. The opening of the curtain itself is a symbol of the rebirth of the bride into a kelin. People gathered to see her.

Then the next ritual game began - aigyr la bee, or soykonish. Following this, a ritual of well-wishing the newlyweds was carried out - alkysh ses, or bashpaady, which means introducing the newlyweds as hosts to their hearth.

It should be noted that during the wedding feast there were strict rules for the reception of guests and their behavior. They also sat down in a certain order.

On the first day of the wedding, the bride was supposed to treat those gathered with home-made salty tea with milk. The groom helped her: prepared firewood, brought water and kept the fire going. After the feast, several more ritual games were played, including ichi chynyrtary (making a dog squeal).

Only her mother could attend the wedding on the bride's side. At the height of the feast, several relatives from the groom’s side visited the new relatives and delivered them horse meat or lamb. This ritual is called belkenchek tyuzhyurip, or diodo ekelgeni. The matchmaking visit took place after the hair braiding ritual. If the wedding celebration took place in the groom’s village, then the Belkenchek took place in the bride’s village.

For Belkenchek, the groom's relatives took archyn, tazhur with milk and tazhur with araka and shalta. They were not supposed to be met in the yard. Entering the house, the eldest of the matchmakers sprinkled milk on the fire and diayyk, blessing the girl’s relatives. The matchmakers were treated to milk. They were supposed to give it to the newlyweds. Then the groom's relatives brought in the back half of the ram carcass. It was kept upside down with its front part facing the hearth, which meant showing respect to the owners. The meat treat was served with arak tajour. The bride's mother served the brisket on a wooden platter, and the meat from the thigh and pelvis (pulled) was served to the father and other relatives. The shalt included sweets, tea bars, cheeses and other treats. According to tradition, the owners first threw the brought food (two or four pinches each) into the fire.

During the matchmaker's visit, the bride's mother was presented with emchek tazhuur, and her father was presented with tazhur with araka. After which the hosts invited the guests to the table, and as a sign of recognition by relatives, they tied belts. If the road ahead was not long, then Return trip the matchmakers set off on the same day, taking the rest of the dowry.

At the wedding site, the guests were supposed to be treated the next day: a two-year-old mare (baital) was slaughtered and a baital bash was held - that was the name of the feast on the second day after the wedding. In addition to the wedding meal, hot boiled heads of freshly slaughtered cattle were served on the table on this day. It was unethical for young women with no more than two children to sit among the elders and drink arak with them. It was also considered a great shame to get drunk at a wedding; those who did not know the limits were covered and wrapped in felt. According to custom, the hosts saw off the guests, accompanying them for a short part of the journey and treating them to several resting places.

Altai wedding traditions

Traditionally, the indigenous Altai peoples had four forms of marriage:

Matchmaking (where),

Snatching without the girl's consent (tudup apargan),

Bride theft (kachyp apargany)

Marriage of minors (balans toylogons).

Each of these forms of marriage had its own specific rituals and traditions. However, matchmaking was characteristic of all forms of marriage. Old maids and bachelors did not enjoy authority and had no weight in society; marriage was considered obligatory among the Altai people. A married heir was separated from his parents if one of the other brothers was preparing to marry. The youngest son, having married, lived with his parents and inherited their house and farm.

A wedding is a bright celebration in the life of any person, marked by the creation of his own family. The Altai wedding ceremony was divided into four stages: matchmaking, preparation for the wedding, the wedding itself and the post-wedding stage. In turn, each period consisted of a certain cycle of rituals and ritual games.

Matchmaking

Matchmaking included preliminary negotiations and official matchmaking (kudalash). In the case of marriage by prior agreement between the parents of both parties, kudalash was a continuation of negotiations and began with several visits by the groom's relatives to the bride's parents. When the girl turned 10-12 years old, they came with gifts, reminding her of the conspiracy. Such meetings continued annually until the bride came of age. Throughout this entire time, furs (fox, sable or otter for sewing a woman’s hat), leather (for the bride’s future shoes), various materials (velvet, silk, felt for sewing women’s clothing, bedding) and other.

When the time for the bride’s handing over (dep detse) arrived, the groom’s side performed kudalash, and the opposite side held a celebration in honor of this event. The celebration, accompanied by certain rituals, ended with the guests taking the bride to the groom, covering her with a curtain - kozhegyo. To seal the marriage of the newlyweds, a traditional wedding ceremony took place in the new village. On this day, the groom's relatives held a celebration of kys ekelgeni (bringing of the bride). The result of the kudalash was the appointment of a wedding day and both parties began preparations for the celebration.

Pre-wedding preparation

During this period, pre-wedding rituals took place. As a rule, the wedding took place in the fall. To strengthen the marriage and kinship union, meetings were held, accompanied by negotiations and mutual treats. The groom's parents repeatedly supplied the bride's relatives with materials for preparing a dowry - shaalta (fabrics, leather, wool, furs, etc.) and a specified number of livestock. Usually, the dowry (dyozhe, sep) of the bride was prepared from the age of five for girls. It was stored in leather bags (kaptar) and chests (kaiyrchaktar). On the wedding day, the dojo was delivered to the groom’s new village. On the eve of the wedding, a dwelling for the newlyweds was built. To do this, the groom's parents invited distant relatives, neighbors, and friends. The construction of the ayil was marked by the holiday of ayil tudushtyn kyochezi, or aylanchyktyn chay.

An integral attribute of the wedding was kozhegyo - a white curtain measuring 1.5x2.5-3 meters. Its edges were bordered by silk tassels - amulets, brocade ribbons, the ends of which were stitched by the groom's relatives as a symbol of access to happiness for the newlyweds. Közhögyo was tied to two birch trees, cut in the morning from the eastern side of the mountain slope, all this was necessarily accompanied by a blessing ceremony. On the eve of the wedding, cattle were slaughtered.

Wedding ceremony and ritual games

If the stolen bride was with the groom's relatives, the wedding began at his parents' place with a meeting of guests from her side. They arrived at the village no later than noon, but they were expected with light refreshments on the way and played ritual games of tepshi blaazhary (they had to take away a wooden dish with meat). At the end of the meeting, the matchmakers were treated to food and escorted to the wedding village, where a reception was organized.

The bride's relatives flaunted part of the dowry they had delivered. Before bringing him to the village, they performed a ritual game called deyozhe sadara - the sale of a dowry: offering various property, the women on the bride’s side praised him, “demanding” a symbolic ransom in return. The bride's nephew, dressed in the clothes of a married woman, took part in the game. It was offered with the words: “Who needs a girl, buy it!”

The dowry was also brought to the village in the form of a ritual game, during which the groom’s side presented various treats or arak.

After the ritual ransom, the women of both sides began to design a new village. Then the groom's relatives followed the bride, taking with them juniper branches - archina, treats, and festive clothes from the dowry. A curtain was carried in front - kozhegyo, a relative of the groom walked on the left, and a relative of the bride on the right. The guests entered the village, where the bride was abducted during the marriage by prior agreement, singing. The wife of the groom's elder brother performed the ritual of sprinkling the fire of the owners' hearth. Having bought the bride, they dressed her in a girl’s outfit and, covering her with kozhegyo, led her to a new wedding village. She covered her face with her cuffed hands. Subsequent rituals were the same for all forms of marriage.

The bride was escorted to the village by the groom's parents (daan village). Before entering, they fumigated her with juniper, the future mother-in-law treated her with milk and blessed her. After which, having covered the kozhegyo, she was led twice around the new home, entered it, the girl was seated in the place of honor in the female half, facing towards the entrance, oriented to the east. Thus began the culminating wedding ceremony - the ceremony of braiding the bride's hair (chach yoryori). Women with many children and happy marriages took part in it.

Behind the curtain, the girl was dressed in the clothes of a married woman (chegedek), accompanying the action with ritual singing, they took off the girl's braids (shanki), unbraided her hair, combed it, made a straight parting dividing her head into equal halves - a sign of a woman's lot. Then two braids were braided: the left one by the woman from the groom’s seok, the right one by the bride, which symbolized the transition of the bride from one family to another. Having tied the ends of the braids, they laid them on the chest, and put on the head a pointed hat of a married woman (kuraan beryuk). With wishes of prosperity, the young woman was treated to milk. Shankylu bala became a kelin - a married woman.

Közhögyo is a taboo object and should not be touched with hands. To show the wedding participants the bride hiding behind it, the groom's father or uncle opened it with the handle of a whip, the butt of a gun, or two or three branches of juniper (archyn). At the same time, he gave instructions to his daughter-in-law: “Don’t say my name. Don't cross my path. Honor your elder as your elder." Then he attached the kozhegyo to a permanent place - near the newlyweds’ bed. After that, boiled shin and sternal rib of a ram were tied to birch trees as a sign of wishing the young people a prosperous life. In relation to the one who opened the curtain in married life, the bride observed the custom of avoidance. The opening of the curtain itself is a symbol of the rebirth of the bride into a kelin. People gathered to see her.

Then the next ritual game began - aigyr la bee, or soykonish. Following this, a ritual of well-wishing the newlyweds was carried out - alkysh ses, or bashpaady, which means introducing the newlyweds as hosts to their hearth.

It should be noted that during the wedding feast there were strict rules for the reception of guests and their behavior. They also sat down in a certain order.

On the first day of the wedding, the bride was supposed to treat those gathered with home-made salty tea with milk. The groom helped her: prepared firewood, brought water and kept the fire going. After the feast, several more ritual games were played, including ichi chynyrtary (making a dog squeal).

Only her mother could attend the wedding on the bride's side. At the height of the feast, several relatives from the groom’s side visited the new relatives and delivered them horse meat or lamb. This ritual is called belkenchek tyuzhyurip, or diodo ekelgeni. The matchmaking visit took place after the hair braiding ritual. If the wedding celebration took place in the groom’s village, then the Belkenchek took place in the bride’s village.

For Belkenchek, the groom's relatives took archyn, tazhur with milk and tazhur with araka and shalta. They were not supposed to be met in the yard. Entering the house, the eldest of the matchmakers sprinkled milk on the fire and diayyk, blessing the girl’s relatives. The matchmakers were treated to milk. They were supposed to give it to the newlyweds. Then the groom's relatives brought in the back half of the ram carcass. It was kept upside down with its front part facing the hearth, which meant showing respect to the owners. The meat treat was served with arak tajour. The bride's mother served the brisket on a wooden platter, and the meat from the thigh and pelvis (pulled) was served to the father and other relatives. The shalt included sweets, tea bars, cheeses and other treats. According to tradition, the owners first threw the brought food (two or four pinches each) into the fire.

During the matchmaker's visit, the bride's mother was presented with emchek tazhuur, and her father was presented with tazhur with araka. After which the hosts invited the guests to the table, and as a sign of recognition by relatives, they tied belts. If the journey was not long, then the matchmakers set off on the return journey the same day, taking the rest of the dowry.

At the wedding site, the guests were supposed to be treated the next day: a two-year-old mare (baital) was slaughtered and a baital bash was held - that was the name of the feast on the second day after the wedding. In addition to the wedding meal, hot boiled heads of freshly slaughtered cattle were served on the table on this day. It was unethical for young women with no more than two children to sit among the elders and drink arak with them. It was also considered a great shame to get drunk at a wedding; those who did not know the limits were covered and wrapped in felt. According to custom, the hosts saw off the guests, accompanying them for a short part of the journey and treating them to several resting places.

Post-wedding activities

The final period of the wedding ceremony was dedicated to the newlyweds joining the ranks of spouses and consolidating new family relationships. When a girl got married, the custom of avoiding older men by the groom’s relatives (kaindash) and avoiding young men (kelindesh) came into force. She was not supposed to meet them often, look them in the face and call them by name. The daughter-in-law addressed her husband's older relatives (men), including his father, through a third party. These prohibitions were mutual. The young wife called her husband adazi (father of the children), and he called his wife enezi (mother of the children). The daughter-in-law addressed her husband's parents as kayin (my father-in-law), kayin enem (my mother-in-law), and they, in turn, addressed her as balam (my child). The woman did not appear to the elders with bare legs, arms, bare head, open breasts when feeding the child. She was forbidden to enter the male half of the yurt, and she turned her back to those avoiding her, and stood up respectfully when they entered the village. In addition, she did not sit at the table with men, did not joke or swear with them.

The newlyweds became full adult members only after the birth of the child. Not earlier than a year after this significant event for the newlyweds, the husband's father's relatives accompanied the young family with the child to the daughter-in-law's relatives. Her mother was given an emchek tazhur and a ram carcass. Such an offering was called emchek kargysh ( breast milk). Having boiled the carcass, they divided it into two parts: the right half remained for the new grandmother, the left was passed on to her son-in-law. As a “payment” for the breast milk of the daughter-in-law’s mother, the guests brought dairy cattle, usually a mare, and simply gave the cow as a “cold-breathing” animal. The first heifer from this cow was then given to a grandson or granddaughter. In gratitude for raising a young daughter-in-law, a horse in full trim was brought to her father. In the house of his wife's parents, the son-in-law hung out fabric (iliu bes). The matchmakers also gave the daughter-in-law's parents elegant clothes, emphasizing respect for them. The hosts treated the guests, tied the son-in-law with a new belt, and before leaving, gave the young enchi - various livestock for breeding, and the newborn - a foal, a lamb and valuable gifts. Guests always visited the daughter-in-law's maternal uncle; naturally, it was indecent to enter his home empty-handed. The hosts also tied belts for the guests, and the uncle generously gave a variety of livestock to the young family. Only after such a first trip could the young family travel at their own discretion to visit the daughter-in-law’s parents and her other relatives.

As you can see, the daughters-in-law contributed the bulk of the material support newlyweds, and the groom's parents were responsible for their family life.

The traditional wedding ritual of the Altai people is one of their ways of life, which changed and developed along with their material and spiritual culture.

Holding a modern Altai wedding differs from ancient traditions. In addition, each individual region of the Altai Republic has developed its own individual rituals, characteristic only for this area. Nevertheless, the general model of holding a wedding celebration continues to this day.

Prepared based on the materials of the book by N.A., Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Archeology, Ethnology and Source Studies of GASU. TADINA "Altai wedding rituals of the 19th - 20th centuries."

http://svadba-altai.ru/altayskaya-svadba

Traditionally, the indigenous Altai peoples had four forms of marriage:

Matchmaking (where),

Snatching without the girl's consent (tudup apargan),

Bride theft (kachyp apargany)

Marriage of minors (balans toylogons).

Each of these forms of marriage had its own specific rituals and traditions. However, matchmaking was characteristic of all forms of marriage. Old maids and bachelors did not enjoy authority and had no weight in society; marriage was considered obligatory among the Altai people. A married heir was separated from his parents if one of the other brothers was preparing to marry. The youngest son, having married, lived with his parents and inherited their house and farm.

A wedding is a bright celebration in the life of any person, marked by the creation of his own family. The Altai wedding ceremony was divided into four stages: matchmaking, preparation for the wedding, the wedding itself and the post-wedding stage. In turn, each period consisted of a certain cycle of rituals and ritual games.

Matchmaking

Matchmaking included preliminary negotiations and official matchmaking (kudalash). In the case of marriage by prior agreement between the parents of both parties, kudalash was a continuation of negotiations and began with several visits by the groom's relatives to the bride's parents.

When the girl turned 10-12 years old, they came with gifts, reminding her of the conspiracy. Such meetings continued annually until the bride came of age. Throughout this time, furs (fox, sable or otter for sewing a woman’s hat), leather (for future shoes of the bride), various materials (velvet, silk, felt for sewing women’s clothing, bedding) and other.

When the time for the bride’s handing over (dep detse) arrived, the groom’s side performed kudalash, and the opposite side held a celebration in honor of this event. The celebration, accompanied by certain rituals, ended with the guests taking the bride to the groom, covering her with a curtain - kozhegyo.

To seal the marriage of the newlyweds, a traditional wedding ceremony took place in the new village. On this day, the groom's relatives held a celebration of kys ekelgeni (bringing of the bride). The result of the kudalash was the appointment of a wedding day and both parties began preparations for the celebration.

Pre-wedding preparation

During this period, pre-wedding rituals took place. As a rule, the wedding took place in the fall. To strengthen the marriage and kinship union, meetings were held, accompanied by negotiations and mutual treats. The groom's parents repeatedly supplied the bride's relatives with materials for preparing a dowry - shaalt (fabrics, leather, wool, furs, etc.) and a specified number of livestock.

Usually, the dowry (dyozhe, sep) of the bride was prepared from the age of five for girls. It was stored in leather bags (kaptar) and chests (kaiyrchaktar). On the wedding day, the dojo was delivered to the groom’s new village. On the eve of the wedding, a dwelling for the newlyweds was built. To do this, the groom's parents invited distant relatives, neighbors, and friends. The construction of the ayil was marked by the holiday of ayil tudushtyn kyochezi, or aylanchyktyn chay.

An integral attribute of the wedding was kozhegyo - a white curtain measuring 1.5x2.5-3 meters. Its edges were bordered by silk tassels - amulets, brocade ribbons, the ends of which were stitched by the groom's relatives as a symbol of access to happiness for the newlyweds. Közhögyo was tied to two birch trees, cut in the morning from the eastern side of the mountain slope, all this was necessarily accompanied by a blessing ceremony. On the eve of the wedding, cattle were slaughtered.

Wedding ceremony and ritual games

If the stolen bride was with the groom's relatives, the wedding began at his parents' place with a meeting of guests from her side. They arrived at the village no later than noon, but they were expected with light refreshments on the way and played ritual games of tepshi blaazhary (they had to take away a wooden dish with meat). At the end of the meeting, the matchmakers were treated to food and escorted to the wedding village, where a reception was organized.

The bride's relatives flaunted part of the dowry they had delivered. Before bringing him to the village, they performed a ritual game called deyozhe sadara - the sale of a dowry: offering various property, the women on the bride’s side praised him, “demanding” a symbolic ransom in return. The bride's nephew, dressed in the clothes of a married woman, took part in the game. It was offered with the words: “Who needs a girl, buy it!”

The dowry was also brought to the village in the form of a ritual game, during which the groom’s side presented various treats or arak.

After the ritual ransom, the women of both sides began to design a new village. Then the groom's relatives followed the bride, taking with them juniper branches - archina, treats, and festive clothes from the dowry. A curtain was carried in front - kozhegyo, a relative of the groom walked on the left, and a relative of the bride on the right.

The guests entered the village, where the bride was abducted during the marriage by prior agreement, singing. The wife of the groom's elder brother performed the ritual of sprinkling the fire of the owners' hearth. Having bought the bride, they dressed her in a girl’s outfit and, covering her with kozhegyo, led her to a new wedding village. She covered her face with her cuffed hands. Subsequent rituals were the same for all forms of marriage.

The bride was escorted to the village by the groom's parents (daan village). Before entering, they fumigated her with juniper, the future mother-in-law treated her with milk and blessed her. After which, having covered the kozhegyo, she was led twice around the new home, entered it, the girl was seated in the place of honor in the female half, facing towards the entrance, oriented to the east. Thus began the culminating wedding ceremony - the ceremony of braiding the bride's hair (chach yoryori). Women with many children and happy marriages took part in it.

Behind the curtain, the girl was dressed in the clothes of a married woman (chegedek), accompanying the action with ritual singing, they took off the girl's braids (shanki), unbraided her hair, combed it, made a parting dividing her head into equal halves - a sign of a woman's share. Then two braids were braided: the left one by a woman from the groom’s seok, the right one by the bride, which symbolized the transition of the bride from one family to another. Having tied the ends of the braids, they laid them on the chest, and put on the head a pointed hat of a married woman (kuraan beryuk). With wishes of prosperity, the young woman was treated to milk. Shankylu bala became a kelin - a married woman.

Közhögyo is a taboo object and should not be touched with hands. To show the wedding participants the bride hiding behind it, the groom's father or uncle opened it with the handle of a whip, the butt of a gun, or two or three branches of juniper (archyn). At the same time, he gave instructions to his daughter-in-law: “Don’t say my name. Don't cross my path.

Honor your elder as your elder." Then he attached the kozhegyo to a permanent place - near the newlyweds’ bed. After that, boiled shin and sternal rib of a ram were tied to birch trees as a sign of wishing the young people a prosperous life. In relation to the one who opened the curtain in married life, the bride observed the custom of avoidance. The opening of the curtain itself is a symbol of the rebirth of the bride into a kelin. People gathered to see her.

Then the next ritual game began - aigyr la bee, or soykonish. Following this, a ritual of well-wishing the newlyweds was carried out - alkysh syos, or bashpaady, which means introducing the newlyweds as hosts to their hearth.

It should be noted that during the wedding feast there were strict rules for the reception of guests and their behavior. They also sat down in a certain order.

On the first day of the wedding, the bride was supposed to treat those gathered with home-made salty tea with milk. The groom helped her: prepared firewood, brought water and kept the fire going. After the feast, several more ritual games were played, including ichi chynyrtary (making a dog squeal).

Only her mother could attend the wedding on the bride's side. At the height of the feast, several relatives from the groom’s side visited the new relatives and delivered them horse meat or lamb. This ritual is called belkenchek tyuzhyurip, or diodo ekelgeni. The matchmaking visit took place after the hair braiding ritual. If the wedding celebration took place in the groom’s village, then the belkenechek took place in the bride’s village.

For Belkenchek, the groom's relatives took archyn, tazhur with milk and tazhur with araka and shalta. They were not supposed to be met in the yard. Entering the house, the eldest of the matchmakers sprinkled milk on the fire and diayyk, blessing the girl’s relatives. The matchmakers were treated to milk. They were supposed to give it to the newlyweds.

Then the groom's relatives brought in the back half of the ram carcass. It was kept upside down with its front part facing the hearth, which meant showing respect to the owners. The meat treat was served with arak tajour. The bride's mother served the brisket on a wooden platter, and the meat from the thigh and pelvis (pulled) was served to the father and other relatives. The shalt included sweets, tea bars, cheeses and other treats. According to tradition, the owners first threw the brought food (two or four pinches each) into the fire.

During the matchmaker's visit, the bride's mother was presented with emchek tazhuur, and her father was presented with tazhur with araka. After which the hosts invited the guests to the table, and as a sign of recognition by relatives, they tied belts. If the journey was not long, then the matchmakers set off on the return journey the same day, taking the rest of the dowry.

At the wedding site, the guests were supposed to be treated the next day: a two-year-old mare (baital) was slaughtered and a baital bash was held - that was the name of the feast on the second day after the wedding. In addition to the wedding meal, hot boiled heads of freshly slaughtered cattle were served on the table on this day. It was unethical for young women with no more than two children to sit among the elders and drink arak with them.

It was also considered a great shame to get drunk at a wedding; those who did not know the limits were covered and wrapped in felt. According to custom, the hosts saw off the guests, accompanying them for a short part of the journey and treating them to several resting places.

Post-wedding activities

The final period of the wedding ceremony was dedicated to the newlyweds joining the ranks of spouses and consolidating new family relationships. When a girl got married, the custom of avoiding older men by the groom’s relatives (kaindash) and avoiding young men (kelindesh) came into force.

She was not supposed to meet them often, look them in the face and call them by name. The daughter-in-law addressed her husband's older relatives (men), including his father, through a third party. These prohibitions were mutual. The young wife called her husband adazi (father of the children), and he called his wife enezi (mother of the children). The daughter-in-law addressed her husband's parents as kayin (my father-in-law), kayin enem (my mother-in-law), and they, in turn, addressed her as balam (my child).

The woman did not appear to the elders with bare legs, arms, bare head, open breasts when feeding the child. She was forbidden to enter the male half of the yurt, and she turned her back to those avoiding her, and stood up respectfully when they entered the village. In addition, she did not sit at the table with men, did not joke or swear with them.

The newlyweds became full adult members only after the birth of the child. Not earlier than a year after this significant event for the newlyweds, the husband's father's relatives accompanied the young family with the child to the daughter-in-law's relatives. Her mother was given an emchek tazhur and a ram carcass. This offering was called emchek kargysh (breast milk). Having boiled the carcass, they divided it into two parts: the right half remained for the new grandmother, the left was passed on to her son-in-law.

As a “payment” for the breast milk of the daughter-in-law’s mother, the guests brought dairy cattle, usually a mare, and simply gave the cow as a “cold-breathing” animal. The first heifer from this cow was then given to a grandson or granddaughter. In gratitude for raising a young daughter-in-law, a horse in full trim was brought to her father. In the house of his wife's parents, the son-in-law hung out fabric (iliu bes). The matchmakers also gave the daughter-in-law's parents elegant clothes, emphasizing respect for them.

The owners treated the guests, tied the son-in-law with a new belt, and before leaving, gave the young enchi - various livestock for breeding, and the newborn - a foal, a lamb and valuable gifts. Guests always visited the daughter-in-law's maternal uncle; naturally, it was indecent to enter his home empty-handed. The hosts also tied belts for the guests, and the uncle generously gave a variety of livestock to the young family. Only after such a first trip could the young family travel at their own discretion to visit the daughter-in-law’s parents and her other relatives.

As you can see, the daughters-in-law contributed the bulk of the newlyweds' financial support, and the groom's parents were responsible for their family life.

The traditional wedding ritual of the Altai people is one of their ways of life, which changed and developed along with their material and spiritual culture.

Holding a modern Altai wedding differs from ancient traditions. In addition, each individual region of the Altai Republic has developed its own individual rituals, characteristic only for this area. Nevertheless, the general model of holding a wedding celebration continues to this day.

Prepared based on the materials of the book by N.A., Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Archeology, Ethnology and Source Studies of GASU. TADINA "Altai wedding rituals of the 19th - 20th centuries."

We continue our series of articles on incredible stories about the adventures and obstacles of wedding planners. We are pleased to share with you the behind the scenes of organizing a wedding in Altai!

Author of the story - Diana Zhikhareva, head of the wedding agency Time To Love.

“I am an incorrigible dreamer, I believe that it is possible to find an approach to absolutely every person. I love complex and unusual tasks, I want Russian weddings to be talked about as the best.”

The Altai Mountains have an absolutely incredible atmosphere; the mere mention of this place conjures up amazing landscapes of mountain ranges and rivers.

Of course, every organizer dreams of interesting, beautiful and complex projects. We are no exception. When 2 months before the wedding a bride came to us with a dream about a dress for a wedding in Altai, our eyes lit up. It turned out that celebrating a wedding in this place is the cherished desire of the bride and groom; the guys love travel, mountains, and Scandinavian style. But, we didn’t understand how to do all this.

The good news we had was a wonderful couple with whom we were on the same wavelength and our readiness to make the most wonderful holiday. Worse news: two months to prepare a destination wedding from scratch, three hotels that refused to accept us and the inability to travel to the venue in advance.

Finding the ideal site

The very first thing we encountered was venues are not ready to accept us. The reasons were different, ranging from a vague understanding of what a wedding with an outdoor ceremony is and the fear of “drunk guests who will destroy everything around”, ending with the fact that there are very few venues where more than 30 people can be accommodated. Our task was to accommodate 45 guests + 10-15 contractors. It seems that we already knew absolutely all the hotels Gorny Altai and they could even tell you at night what the pros and cons of each one are. The search dragged on and time was running out. By chance we stumbled upon the completely unpromoted Altyn-Ai Hotel. There were very few photographs, and, moreover, due to the time difference of +4 hours, if you did not have time to resolve some issue before 12 am (Moscow time), it was postponed to the next day. We asked the managers to send us photographs of every corner of the hotel and territory, fortunately, the bride's sister also agreed to go there and film us a live report from the place. The site suited us perfectly, with the exception of one nuance... the veranda cafe was designed for a maximum of 25 people. Together with the couple, it was decided that accommodation and ceremony would be in Altyn-Ai, and for the banquet we will look again.

Finding the perfect site - Part 2

The task has become more difficult now we were looking for a Scandinavian style restaurant, which will not only accommodate our number of people, but will also be at an acceptable distance from the ceremony. Then suddenly he entered the “game” restaurant, with a name familiar to Muscovites "Rublyovka". Many joked that it was worth going to Siberia to celebrate the wedding in Rublyovka. Everything was fine, except that a restaurant is a veranda that has a roof but no walls. What is the problem? Altai has a sharply continental climate- this means that it can be +25 degrees, and after 10 minutes +13 and rain like a wall. The rain is such that the Moscow rains this summer are just a light drizzle. One more nuance - on August 31, the summer season in Altai ends and the winter begins, almost all “summer” restaurants close and let all their staff go. Our wedding was scheduled for September 2. And if the cool weather can still be dealt with, then the lack of cooks is a more difficult task. We are always sure that the pledge perfect wedding– the work of all participants as a single team. The restaurant administration agreed to meet us and offered the services of a chef and his team from Barnaul. Together we developed the menu, discussed all the details of serving and the entire style of the celebration.

The perfect team

In organizing any wedding a well-coordinated team is important interested in the common cause, and as for the wedding in Altai, then the team must be a little crazy. The easiest choice for the guys was choosing a photographer. The works of Nastya Chereshneva (Moscow), as well as her attitude, her spirit, inspired confidence that everything would be fine. When getting involved in such an adventure, a person must understand that he will automatically lose several working days during the wedding season. It was decided to look for all other contractors in Siberia. Questions with the videographer (Arkady Strezhenkov, Novosibirsk) and presenter (Sergey Donets, Novosibirsk) were closed quite quickly, the guys immediately understood the format, found mutual language with a couple.

One day the bride wrote to us that the most terrible phrase for the organizers, the phrase “and my girlfriends will gather me and decorate me”. Everyone has come across those creepy pictures on the internet with towers of Babel on the heads of brides, or bright shadows, or poorly applied tones. At that moment, we honestly shuddered and asked for the stylists’ contacts to discuss all the details. We had no reason to be afraid, our friends turned out to be wonderful top stylists from Novosibirsk who made the maximum amount of effort to create a chic image of the bride.

The puzzle slowly began to take shape and almost the entire team was already assembled. All that's left is the decor. Decorators were needed who will understand and hear all the wishes of the couple, who will be imbued with the idea and also, at the height of the season they will be able to drop everything and go for a few days almost to the ends of the world.

From the very first day of preparation, the bride said that the ideal picture for her would be decor in the style of Scandinavian minimalism, using natural materials Altai (needles, ferns, cones). Together we looked and talked with a large number of decorators, but somehow we didn’t get any hits. There was very little time left, and I remembered that several years ago I met a florist who works in Barnaul. With a sinking heart, I wrote to Lyuba about our wedding and at that moment everything came together. Lyuba heard all the wishes of the bride, she went to the site twice, and all the time she encouraged us that everything would work out. And everything worked out.

Departure to Altai and day X itself

As often happens, the stupidest things happen at the most inopportune moments. On the day of our departure, I hit my head very hard and suffered a concussion, which, fortunately, showed all its symptoms only the next morning after the wedding. In the meantime, we prepared for departure with bated breath. The overall journey to the place consisted of several parts: a 4-hour flight Moscow - Barnaul and a 5-hour transfer to the hotel. Since the guests were not only from Moscow, everyone had a different route, some flew with us, the other part traveled by car from Novosibirsk and Gorno-Altaisk (about 8 and 3 hours of travel), another part of the guests flew first to Novosibirsk, then a short flight to Gorno-Altaisk and a 3-hour transfer to the site, there was also a group of guests flying from Almaty. All in all, logistics were difficult. Any flight delays or late transfers could cost us a lot of time and the entire timing could go down the drain. Everyone got there on time, and ours the driver even gave us a sightseeing tour with stops in the most beautiful mountain places.

The place is truly amazing, tree-shrouded mountains, the Katun River is bright turquoise, making you doubt the reality of what you saw. But be prepared right away for the fact that the body is immediately in shock, not only from beauty, but also from climate, pressure. Despite the fact that I often go to the mountains, this time I felt weak all the time, and I wasn’t the only one. Of course, the journey for almost a day and the change in time zones did not play into our hands. But it was too early to relax.

On our wedding day the weather gave us sunny, warm preparation of the bride and groom. Small rain just started dripping at the ceremony, which did not spoil it at all, because apart from the touchingness of the moment itself, she was driven by a friend of the couple, which made the moment even more heartwarming. We always advise our couples to choose a loved one for the ceremony; of course, they just need to discuss all the key points in advance. It was the extensive, painstaking and complex preparation that helped us get through this day without any hitches or stress. Everyone who worked at the wedding performed their tasks 100%. I was glad that all the guests were also very immersed in the process, were ready to help at any moment, understood that this day was important and depended on everyone.

Already only late in the evening the same rain poured down like a wall, which, by the way, not even all the guests noticed. The atmosphere of the evening was soulful and warm and exactly the one I wanted at the beginning of preparation.

What after?

The day after the wedding, when I finally collapsed with a concussion, the restless photographer, the second organizer, some of the guests and our couple went to the Karakol lakes for a photo shoot. The lakes were 30 km away from us, but can only be reached by military truck and there are absolutely no roads there; the journey takes about 3.5 hours one way. The most unexpected and terrible thing happened here, in our photographer Nastya suffered from altitude sickness. Anyone who has ever experienced this will understand how bad it is. A person, literally At one point it hit me, it was difficult to breathe, move and talk. But! You know, what in all this reveals a person, not only as a professional, but also as a fan of his work. Nastya Not only continued filming, but the resulting shots turned out simply amazing. She immediately refused all entreaties to turn around and leave. For us, Nastya is a real hero, irrevocably in love with her work.

We all returned from this trip only at night and then the return journey to Moscow immediately awaited us.

So, our big-little journey has come to an end. If you ask Was it worth all the effort, we can confidently say yes. Making someone's dream come true is always a special feeling; being on such a journey yourself is simply an irreplaceable experience. You never come back from places like this the same when they say that Altai is a place of power, they don’t lie. Our eyes saw so much beauty there that we'll have a million more stories to tell our friends.

Organization – Wedding agency Time To Love
Photographer -
Videographer: Arkady Strezhenkov
Dress – Sveta Grigorieva
Presenter – Sergey Donets
Floristry and decor –