SACRIFICIAL RITES OF THE UDMURTS ON THE EASTERN BANK OF THE RIVER

On the eastern bank of the River Kama in the north-western district of Bashkiria and the Kueda district of the Perm province lives a small group of ethnic Udmurts. These Udmurts hold on to heathen traditions that have been strongly affected by the forma-tion of the major world religions. The present article is dedicated to the sacrificial rites of Udmurts in the context of ritual behaviour, with occasional comparisons with the tradition of other ethnic Udmurt groups. Sacrifice has always had an important role in Udmurt rituals, both collective and daily, random and special. N. G. Pervukhin, a leading expert on Udmurt ethnography notes that the very essence of their prayers lies in the act of sacrifice rather than in the act of praying (Pervukhin 1888: 1).1 The subject has been directly or indirectly discussed by different researchers who have studied the Udmurt culture. Some contem