Zurgan Lidzhieva, About Zul and Urs Sar

Zurgan talks about Zul and Urs Sar celebrations: 10 to 20 days prior to Zul people collect wild grass in the steppe and dry it on the stove. People start to prepare for Zul two to three days beforehand. They tidy up their homes, make food and candles (‘boats of life’ from dough). Each grass straw is wrapped in cotton, and the number of straws should correspond to the number of family members and their respective age. During Zul each person adds a year to their life. Different people do this ritual differently though. We, for example, come home after twilight, pray to gods, ancestors, and light the candle-boats. Our mother used to say that during Urs Sar we should go to the temple to pray to gods. We cleaned ourselves, cleaned our children, put on clean clothes, took bortsg biscuits, candies, lit candles at home and went to the temple.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi