Ethnographer: People don’t understand meaning of Vardavar
The real rite of Vardavar today isn’t maintained in Armenia, as people don’t understand its meaning, says ethnographer Lusik Aguletsi. She doesn’t admit that in other way Vardavar is called ‘Jrotsi’ (feast of pouring water at one another), “When they call it ‘jrotsi’, it turns into a game, but that feast isn’t a game; that is a ceremony of being poured with divine water, it is the Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus.” The ethnographer tells that in the past during Vardavar lamb was slaughtered in the morning and then people went to church for mass, “In the past the young, the elderly and the children knew what to do. Formerly during any rite each family member has his responsibility. If a daughter-in-law had no right to speak to her father-in-law, during this feast she could pour water at her father-in-law as a symbol of the day.” Children should learn about rites at school, says Aguletsi and adds, “But first of all the teachers should learn, examine them so that they can teach.” According to Lusik Aguletsi, our church celebrates its holidays better than the people, “Our people are rich in their culture, the church- in rites and spiritual world; we are not able to combine them. If we are able to combine them, we will become a spiritually rich nation.”
