Rimma Badmaeva, About Zul and Tsagan Sar

During Zul and Tsagan Sar people make biscuits, tea, and cook meat. Different biscuits have different meanings and symbolisms. During Tsagan Sar people make a variety of biscuits, whereas during Zul – simple biscuits. Torghuts have the following custom. During Zul, their old men give their young men a coin wrapped in a paper wishing them to grow into brave defenders of the motherland. During Zul, Kalmyks perform a ritual to prolong their lives. They make candles from dough in the shape of a small pan and stick candlewicks into it. The candle is lit when the first star appears in the sky. A person who performs this ritual holds the candle, standing with one leg outside the house and the other leg inside the house, and utters ‘khuree, khuree’. After the ritual the candle is put on the domestic altar. The next day the dough of the candle is fried and shared among family members. Candles can be made on other occasions as well. During Tsagan Sar, people make various bortsg biscuits, including khorkha (symbolizes abundance), jola (symbolizes the continuation of one’s clan), shovgor, and kit. People greet each other by holding each other’s elbows. The greeting during is: ‘Did you spend the winter well?’ People also hang new clothes on a rope to symbolize abundance. At the end, Rimma utters a well wish that people say during Tsagan Sar.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin