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ICH Elements 97
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Kumbh Mela
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 -
Traditional skills of carpet weaving in Fars
Carpet weaving is one of the world's most traditional, conceptual, applied arts. Iranians enjoy a global reputation in carpet weaving and its skills; and carpets of Fars with nomadic and rural characteristics constitute a genuine example. Historically, carpet weaving in Fars province dates back to the seventh century(AH). Carpets of Fars are known as either «Qashqai» or «Khamseh Tribes» carpets. These are the nomads moving between Esfahan and Persian Gulf coasts. Among the tribes of Qashqais, the more prominent are Darre-Shuri, Kashkuli-ye Bozorg, Kashkoli-ye Kuchak, Shesh-Boluki, and Gharache. Due to the immigration requirements, the size of nomadic rugs is usually small; they are, however, beautiful. The stages of Carpet Weaving in Fars Province - Wool cutting The carpets usually utilize wool as the basic material. The men cut the wool of their sheep, skillfully, in spring or autumn. The quality of the wool on each of the eleven sections of the sheep body, and the related colors are different. - Frame(loom) Making The portable frame of nomadic carpets is rectangle in shape, with a metal or wood support; it is placed on the ground. The act of knitting is performed on it. The men construct the frame, too. - Weaving The women convert the wool into strings on spinning wheels or weaving machines. They, masterfully, take care to obtain the best qualities. The spinning wheel is a wooden tool that resembles a big spin; the wool is turned around it from the hand of the knitter, then weaved. The spindle wheel is a wooden structure with the wool being placed in its middle to turn into strings when the wheel turns. - Painting Colors are mainly natural; the main colors are laquer, painted blue, dark blue, brown and white. The plants from whichthe colors are extracted include Madder, Indigo, lettuce leaf, walnut skin, Jashyr, cherry stem and skin of pomegranate. The pigments, so called, Dandane, are elements which allow color stabilization and imprint on the fibers; the most important modants include Alum (Double Aluminum Sulfate), Green Vitriol (Cut Blue), Double Copper Sulfate, Black Vitriol (Double Iron Sulfate). - Knitting While knitting, the women tie the colored strings on the wool web to cover the frame and give shape to the carpet. Two types of ties are common: The ""Persian tie"", an assymetric tie, usually used in places where Persian Language is spoken, where it is referred to as, so called, Farsi-Baf (done in the Persian style), and the Turkish tie, a symmetric tie, in that the two webs are of the same size and the tie is made in the middle; this second tie is more popular in places where Turkish is in use, so the name Torki-Baf (done in the Turkish style). - Completion Completion refers to the activities done for final furnishing. These include sewing the sides (so called, Dowrduzi: Some products will be sewn on the sides to be used as bags, called ""khorjin's"" or ""chante's"" on the region); burning the extra wool to make the designs vivid and enhance the quality of the product (so called, Porzsuzi); double tied roots, and final cleaning. Nomadic Gilims Wraps of Fars are not painted with painted woofs; both sides of the product can be used. Limited materials have led these products to be more geometric in both texture and margin, mirroring the local culture of the community. The most important characteristic of Fars carpet weaving is the unique method of weaving without any maps. One weaver will not be able to weave two carpets of the same design, especially, if she does not enough time to consider the details. Fars carpets include the following types: Simple Gilim(one sided or two sided): A carpet made through passing the colored wool strings, called ""Pud's"" between the vertical strings, called ""Taar's"", without maps. Rug: A carpet with thinner ""Pud's"" and thicker ""Taar's"". The product is thicker in diameter, compared to Gilim's, and is one-sided. Ghaaliche: A rug of smaller dimensions (measuring to less than three square meters). Jaajim: A product of woolen ""Taar's"" and ""Pud's"", with simple and attractive designs, and a variety of usages, including those of carpets, beds, pillows, etc. Gilim-e Naghsh-barjaste(Goljajimi Gilim): A one sided gilom with its main motifs embossed. Somak (Rendy): A one-sided Gilim, out of which ""Ghali's"" (rugs) are believed to have been evolved. Shishe Derme: A Gilim with a simple pattern; it has no knots and naps, is two sided in a way that the mirror patterns of its face are weaved on its back side. Gabbe: A gross nomadic carpet, vastly verified, and done without any map. There are both colored Gabbe's, and Gabbe's of natural colors. So called, ""Shiri"" Gabbe's of Fars mark nomadic courage for the owner.
Iran 2010 -
Traditional knowledge related to making of – ‘Gulazyk’
Gulazyk is an ancient meal of the Kyrgyz people. It is meat made into powder. Preparation of gulazyk: salted meat was boiled and then dried in a cool, well-ventilated and dark place. Then, the meat was grinded several times with millstones until it turned into a very fine powder. Sometimes, the dried and grinded intestines of wild animals are added into gulazyk.
Kyrgyzstan -
Spectacular art
Spectacular art is ancient form of folk theatre. Its roots are to be found in the shows of tribal times. It existed before and can be seen now, and it embodies and reflects themes in folk life. Notably, the word "oyin" ("game", 'dance") has been long associated with this art for. Almost all types and forms of professional folk spectacular arts (such as performances and shows by maskharaboz, qiziqchi (actors, clowns), raqqos (dancers), dorboz (rope walkers), nayrangboz (illuzionists), mullakchi (acrobats), chavandoz (horsemen), yogoch oyoq (stilt walkers), ayiq, echki, ilon, maymun oynatish (tamers of bears, goats, monkeys and snakes), askiyaboz (wisecrackers), qogirchoqboz (puppeteers)) were called with a single word – "oyin", while their performers – "oyinchi" (the ones, who perform this activity).
Uzbekistan -
Knowledge and skills related to cattle breeding
A cattle breeding is one of the ancient activities dealt by Uzbeks. It is the dominant animal husbandry industry specializing in breeding cattle for milk, beef, leather raw materials, as well as as a traction force. Even the holy book of Zoroastrianism, “Avesta”, calls upon careful attitude towards cattle, in particular, in relation to horses, bovine animals, sheep and goats. A cattle breeding was one of the main activities in mountainous, submontane and steppe areas of Uzbekistan. The essence of traditions, knowledge and skills related to cattle breeding and goals pursued by them, were always the same - they were aimed at breeding animals, protecting them from various diseases, predators and thieves, preventing their loss, etc.
Uzbekistan -
Traditional music of the Tsuur
Mongol Tsuur is a blending of sounds created simultaneously by both the musical instrument and the human throat. Tsuur has an inseparable connection to the Uriankhai Mongolians of the Altai Region, and remains an integral part of their daily life. Its origins lie in an ancient practice of worshipping nature and its guardian spirits by emulating natural sounds. Tsuur is a vertical pipe-shaped wooden wind instrument with three fingerholes. Simultaneously touching the mouthpiece of the pipe with one’s front teeth and applying one’s throat produces a unique timbre comprising a clear and gentle whistling sound and a drone. Tsuur is traditionally played to ensure success for hunts, for benign weather, as a benediction for safe journeys or for weddings and other festivities. The music reflects one’s inner feelings when travelling alone, connects a human to nature, and serves as a performing art.
Mongolia 2009 -
Ritual dramatic art of Ta‘zīye
Literally the word Ta’azyeh means “mourning”, and figuratively it refers to a kind of ritual and religious theatre based on religious events, historical and mythical stories, and Iranian folk tales, and there are four basic elements in it: poem, music, song and motion. Ta’azyeh is a type of theatre with many different characters, each of which having its own features, differences, colors, clothes, tools and requirements. It is performed in the form of symbols, conventions, codes and signs which are known by Iranian spectators, and on a stage which is placed in the centre without any lighting and decoration. The place where a Ta’azyeh is performed is called Tekyeh. Apart from some feel-good Ta’azyehs, the main subject of most of them is the conflict between “good” and “evil” and the source of Ta’azyeh scripts has often been the event of Karbala where the third Imam of Shiites, Imam Hussein, and his family were killed after a strong resistance in a battle between seventy two members of the “good” and twenty thousand members of the “evil” army in the Moharram month of the year 60 in the lunar Hegira calendar (a Muslim system of dividing the year of 354 days into 12 months and starting to count the years from the Hegira i.e. the migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in AD 622). It is lunar because it is based on the movement of moon around the earth. This calendar is used in Arab countries. There is also a solar type of Hegira calendar based on the movement of earth around the sun which is officially used in Iran). Therefore, this theatre is performed in Moharram more than other months of the year in Tekyehs, streets, and in the garden of houses. Performing Ta’azyeh has a prominent role in the Iranian vulgar culture, literature and art. The concept and the performance style of Ta’azyeh leads to the maintenance of spiritual values, altruism and friendship. It motivates the religious emotions of the masses, purifies the soul, inspires the audience to ethics and a sense of resistance against oppression, and creates cooperation and sympathy among the performers and the spectators. Taazyieh preserves the old traditions, the national culture and the mythology of Iran, and plays a major role in preserving other types of art as well. Its effect on the audience is so great that many of the proverbs of ordinary people are taken from this type of theatre. Moreover, because of its flexibility, it has been able to adjust itself with different cultures of Iranian tribes; therefore, Ta’azyeh has become the common language of different tribes and has been prominent in creating “unity” among them and helping them communicate and share creativities. Ta’azyeh performers are divided into two main groups: agreeing performers (the Good forces) and disagreeing performers (the Evil forces). Agreeing characters wear green, white and blue costumes as a symbol of goodness and peace and sing Iranian folk songs. Disagreeing characters on the other hand wear red, orange and bright colors as a symbol of cruelty and brutality and speak aggressively in a declamatory style. Music is used in two forms: with songs and with musical instruments. Moeen-ol-boka, the director of Ta’azyeh, who has complete knowledge of music, poetry and all the techniques of Ta’azyeh, is actively present on the stage. Women are less involved in Taazyieh and the roles of women are also played by men drawing a veil over their faces. Each Ta’azyeh script has its own subject and requires its own special tools, costumes, conventions, symbols and music. Observing the rules of performance, the audience also cooperates in some scenes by chorusing the song or the poem. There are even some people who have taken vows of food (taking a vow to give food to people, especially poor people is very common in Iran) who serve the spectators during the play and fulfill their vows. Business people and official fraternities and small public groups called “religious groups”, the number of which reaches three thousand, attempt to perform Ta’azyeh in many areas and provide the tools and costumes, and also decorate the area where Ta’azyeh is going to be performed. In general, all the script writers, actors, spectators, and sponsors of this ritual play are from the people in the street who have different jobs during the year and perform this theatre only to reap otherworldly rewards. Taazyieh has also caused many skills to develop. For instance: calligraphy artists by writing Ta’azyeh scripts, musicians by holding classes of singing and playing instruments, painters by painting the events on large curtains, “curtain narrators” by narrating the stories painted on the curtains with a good voice for people, poets by composing new poems for the dirges in the intervals of Ta’azyeh, industrial workshops by making different tools and instruments used in Ta’azyeh, tailoring and handicraft workshops by making different costumes and masks and accessories for Ta’azyeh, cultural institutes by making films of Ta’azyeh and making them readily accessible to the public, documentarists by making documentaries about Ta’azyeh and preparing them to be shown on TV, each help develop a special skill through Ta’azyeh.
Iran 2010 -
Traditional art of whistling
The traditional art of whistling calls for human teeth and lips to function as the music instrument and the mouth cavity to function as a sound box. Whistling is classified into the following three types: tooth whistle, lip whistle and palate whistle. The reasons Mongolians whistle is greatly dependant on the season, time, location, and context due to that from ancient times Mongols have considered whistling as a call for wind. Mongols whistle the short and long songs, and melodies in hot days of summer and autumn season while herding livestock and during the labor for relaxing. Before mentioned, Mongols believe that the whistle can bring the deity of wind, therefore they do whistle while harvesting the grain for blowing the skin of grain.
Mongolia -
Traditional Turkish archery
Traditional Turkish Archery is an intangible cultural heritage element, consisting of its principles, rituals and social practices, craftsmanship of traditional equipment, archery disciplines and shooting techniques evolved over centuries, which has been shaped around a sportive activity. In traditional Turkish archery, there are different types of disciplines practiced on foot and on horseback. The archery on foot discipline includes “Menzil” (Long-Distance), “Darp” (Pounding) and “Puta” (Target) shootings. Horseback archery discipline includes “Kıgaç”, “Kabak” and “Tabla” shootings. Bearers and practitioners of the element train individually or collectively to improve their archery skills, carry out individual shootings, and take part in competitions and festive events. Archers learn from masters the traditional shooting techniques and skills which allow them to perform either foot or horseback shootings. In all stages of practice, archers strictly act in accordance with the certain principles, rules and rituals related to the element. Craftsmanship of traditional archery equipment is also important component of the element. These equipments are made by craftspeople who have the skills and knowledge of materials as well as patience and mastery. Making the equipment requires raw materials such as trees grown under certain climatic conditions at high altitudes, organic glues, horns, tendons, silk and leather, and so craftspeople should have an advanced knowledge of nature, including plants, animals and climate. Archery equipment is generally decorated with calligraphy, ornaments and marquetry.
Turkey 2019 -
Traditional knowledge in medicine
Knowledge of the Kyrgyz concerning treatment and use of medicinal plants is distinguished by depth and diversity. It contains knowledge and practice about harvesting, drying, and storing medicinal plants, and their use in traditional medicine. Different tinctures, decoctions, ointments, and powders made of plants for treatment purposes are used today in traditional medicine to treat bleedings, heart deceases, kinks, scabs. Except plants, natural objects, minerals, and animal limbs are used in traditional medicine. The so called psychological treatment methods such as spells and exorcisms were used in the past, to which the Kyrgyz, rarely, but still resort to nowadays.
Kyrgyzstan -
Games with ‘alchiks’ (dices): ‘Chuko atmay’, ‘Ordo’, ‘Kan talamay, Upai’
‘Chuko atmay’ is played with ‘alchiks’ (dices). Participants draw a circle with a diameter of 3-5 meters. Alchiks are placed in the middle of the circle. Order of the game is determined by throwing of ‘saka’. Two shot lines are drawn one meter away from the circle from two sides. If an alchik is beaten out of the line after the first successful shot, other shots are carried out from the circle’s line. In case of unsuccessful shot, other player takes a turn. The player, which shots out the largest number of alchiks, wins. ‘Ordo’ is one of the most spread games of the Kyrgyz. The word ‘ordo’ itself means ‘khan’s bid’. The game reproduces a battle for the capture of bid and represents some kind of a military map. A circle drawn on the ground means the enemy territory, and opponents frame a plan of the battle. Skills of leading the right interior policy are in the basis of this game as well. Ordo is played by two teams (6-10 people at each team). Playing order of the game goes in the round or by using elimination principle. Duration of the game is about two hours. The essence of the game is to strike the khan’s ordo placed in the center of a circle (16 meters in diameter) with the abalak (bat), as well as to push khan himself and voivodes (generals) out of the circle. The team, which strikes the largest number of voivodes out of the circle, wins. ‘Kan talamay, Upai’ is a traditional game with dices of ovine knee joints ‘chuko’. Players are divided into two teams consisting of 2, 4 or more. The number of dices needed for the game vary from 13-37 or more. The purpose of the game is to collect as much upais as possible. The largest dice is determined as ‘khan’ and dyed into a vivid color. Starting player takes all dices in his joint palms, placing khan in the center, and scatters them all onto the carpet. The first player tries to strike the khan. If the target is hit, the player continues to play, and in case of a failure – the next player enters into the game. Shots are done by the dices with equal position. There are also special regulations
Kyrgyzstan -
Traditional knowledge related to embroidering and making of 'Tush kiyiz’
Tush kiyiz represents intensely embroidered ornamental carpet used to decorate the house. It is of a rectangular shape and embroidered on different types of fabrics. Initially it was used for insulating purposes in the yurt. Most probably, the first wall carpets were made of felt, which is evident from its name: tush – meaning “outer” or “in front”, and kiyiz – meaning “felt.” tush kiyiz is an example of Kyrgyz embroidery. Embroidery is one of the most ancient and most wide-spread crafts of Kyrgyz people. During the centuries Kyrgyz women have developed their own ornamental style, which is dominated by vegetative and zoomorphic motifs such as the ornaments of leafs, branches, flowers as well as round and spiral patterns. Kyrgyz embroidery leaves a lot of room for artistic expression and improvisation. Some Kyrgyz women embroider without stencils based on their own memory and imagination.
Kyrgyzstan