White-painted bride honors Bulgarian Muslim rite
RIBNOVO, Bulgaria (Reuters) – Fikrie Sabrieva, 17, will marry together with her eyes shut along with her face painted white, dotted with bright sequins. She lives ‘at the conclusion regarding the world’, tending a hardy muslim tradition in mostly Christian Bulgaria.
Kiddies view the marriage ceremony of Moussa Babechki and Fikrie Sabrieva when you look at the town of Ribnovo, within the Rhodope Mountains, some 210km (130miles) south of Sofia 13, 2008 january. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov
The remote town of Ribnovo, set for a mountainside that is snowy southwest Bulgaria, has held its conventional cold temperatures marriage service alive despite decades of Communist persecution, accompanied by poverty that forced lots of men to get work abroad.
“Other nearby villages tried the old-fashioned marriage after the ban had been lifted, then again the custom somehow died away — ladies wanted become contemporary,” said Ali Mustafa Bushnak, 61, whoever child arrived to look at Fikrie’s wedding.
“Maybe our company is at the conclusion regarding the planet. Or individuals in Ribnovo are extremely proud and religious of these traditions.”
Some professionals state clinging to your old-fashioned marriage ceremony is Ribnovo’s response to the persecutions of history.
Bulgaria could be the only eu nation where Muslims’ share can be as high as 12 %. The communist regime, which would not tolerate any spiritual rituals, tried to forcibly integrate Muslims into Bulgaria’s mostly Christian Orthodox populace, pushing them to abandon using their conventional outfits and adopt Slavonic names.
The marriage ritual ended up being resurrected with vitality on the list of Pomaks — Slavs whom transformed into Islam under Ottoman guideline and now constitute 2.5 per cent of Bulgaria’s 7.8 million populace — after communism collapsed in 1989. Continue reading