Tajikistan Boys Clothes: Activities--Holidays



Figure 1.-- A popular annual event in Tajikistan is Children’s Eid Treat Day. Candy is given out on the morning of the Eid holiday. This childhood activity is similar to Trick or Treat and to carol singing in Britain. Image cortesy of the Fergusson Image Collection.

We do mnot have details on many Tajik holidays. A mixture of holidays are celebrated. The Russians will celebrate Russian holidays. we believe that the Russians in Tajikistan are highly secularized and thus the secular Russian holidays are most important. Most Tajiks are Muslims and thus the Islamic holidays are important. An especially popular tradition in Tajikistan for children is Children’s Eid Treat Day. This childhood activity is similar to Trick or Treat and to carol singing in Britain. It differs in that there is no forfeit if no treat is handed out, nor do children have to sing first. There is a knock and on opening the door one is greeted by a group of children. Their happy, smiling faces filled with expectation for their Eid treat. Eid, of course, is the celebration which follows the end of Ramadan.

Children’s Eid Treat Day

One aspect of Ramadan in Tajikistan is Children's Eid Treat Day. A HBC reaser tells us, "My weekend shopping list contained an extra item. This was a large bag of candy. This was not so I could satisfy my sweet tooth. No it was for a far more noble cause, Children’s Eid Treat Day. The candy would be given out on the morning of the Eid holiday. Thus, I made sure I was well armed to supply the many young callers who would call a treating. This childhood activity is similar to Trick or Treat and to carol singing in Britain. It differs in that there is no forfeit if no treat is handed out, nor do children have to sing first. There is a knock and on opening the door one is greeted by a group of children. Their happy, smiling faces filled with expectation for their Eid treat. Eid, of course, is the celebration which follows the end of Ramadan. Children are up early on this day. The apartment echoes to their happy chatter and thunderous pounding of their feet as they rush up stairs to rattle the door knocker. Their early morning call resembles a dawn stampede by a herd of elephants. The first callers came spot on at 7 o’clock and the last group called at 11:21 a.m. They were persuasive and wangled an extra candy. The children were clad in their winter coats and some wore warm bob caps. The clothes were of Western design. They wore good stout shoes or trainers. They carried a small bag in which to collect their goodies. They clearly looked forward with excitement and anticipation to the treats they would receive during this Muslim festival." [Fergusson] While Ramadan is celebrated throughout the Islamic world, there are differences from country to coutry. Children also receive treats, for example, in Kuwait. The celebration is called Guirgian Day .

Winter Holiday

I think the Russian Winter holiday is Christmas and Hogmany roled into one. The Communists sought to end Christmas a an important holiday in Russia. Part of their trategy was to create a Winter holiday without any religious connotations. There is certainly a big thing made about the New Year and school is on holiday then.

Sources

Fergusson, William. E-mail message, November 27, 2003.






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Created: November 27, 2003
Last updated: 10:49 PM 10/22/2005