Author: Mariam Samushia
Right now, your mind is probably busy worrying about foul weather. As usual, you rush from one market to another in search of a perfect Easter cake. You are in two minds whether to escape the city or cement your urban identity. While you are living according to your usual habits, there is a place in Tbilisi - Yazidi temple in Varketili - where people celebrate New Year. According to the Yazidi calendar, believers celebrate New Year or Sere Sal, as they call it in Kurmanji Language. Followers of this monotheistic religion believe that every April, one of the hypostasis of God, the Archangel Toussus Malac, comes down from heaven to earth and blesses the land. The blessing brings life back to earth - blossom begins and faded colors of nature reawake together with the human soul.
Yazidis have a tradition of bringing the piece of blossom from nature to their urban space by decorating houses with wildflowers. They paint eggs as a symbol of life origin. On the first Wednesday of April - holy day according to the Eastern calendar, Yazidis gather in the courtyard of the temple with lanterns in their hands.
The Yezidi tradition of celebrating the New Year takes place from Mesopotamian culture and is one of the oldest rituals still practiced.
Several photos from Sere Sal Celebration.