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CultureHolidaysFollowing holidays are celebrated in Ukraine in all-national scope:
All national holidays, except Easter and Trinity, which are celebrated on different dates according to religious traditions, are celebrated at one and the same dates in a year. Christmas and Easter in Ukraine are celebrated by Orthodox Church calendar.
The Day of Sobornost is interested as a holiday connected with historical past of Ukraine. On 22 January 1919, significant event happened at Sophiyska Square in Kyiv. Uniting of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and Western Ukrainian People’s Republic into one independent Ukrainian soborne state was announced. As it is decided by historians that day the existence of Ukraine as an independent state became a historic fact. Despite that at the beginning of 20 century Ukrainian state failed to defend its independence in fights with enemies. Uniting in 22 January was one of symbolic acts of national sense. That is why Ukrainians celebrate it as a national holiday.
Besides national holidays traditional holidays of national minorities are celebrated in Ukraine. According to Article 24 of the Law of Ukraine “On National Minorities” local bodies of self-governing in the frameworks of their activities taking into account celebration of particular holidays of national minorities at their territories. Additional days off are settled to celebrate traditional national religious holidays. Traditions, ceremonies, customCustom of Ukrainian people, first of all, connected with traditional outlook formed during many centuries and preserved many signs of pre-Christianity belief. Ceremonies are divided into two main types: family and calendar. Family ceremonies hallowed transaction moments in man’s life and calendar – the same stages in the life of nature or labor activity of people. Each traditional holiday and each ceremony were closely connected with belief and superstitions.
Winter cycle of folk calendar ceremonies of Ukrainians starts from Kolyada celebrates at Christmas Eve (on 6 January) and ends with Epiphany (on 19 January). Winter cycle includes such holidays as: Kolyada (or Saint Evening); Sun Birthday Celebration (Christmas), New Year old style (Malanka and St. Vasyl (Basil), Epiphany and Streteniye (meeting of winter and spring). Christmas Eve (Kolyada, Saint Evening) called Bahata (rich) Koutia. People prepare to it very carefully: lightened oven with 12 logs dried for 12 days, bakes special bread, prepared 12 ritual meals, main of which is Christmas koutia (meal of wheat, honey, poppy-seed and nuts) and compote (drink of dry fruit). In the evening special symbol – sheaf called didoukh is taken home. Everybody believed that like other home things it gained magic power and brings happiness and success. Before supper children went to relatives with presents and koutia to pray for souls of dead. Beginning from the Saint Evening and up to Epiphany people sing ritual songs – koliadky and shchedrosky – wishes to masters of the houses and their relatives.Spring cycle of calendar holidays and ceremonies had special significance among Ukrainians. It was connected with the most important business – further yield installation. People, with the help of ceremonies, ritual and magic actions tried to expedite the coming of spring, warm and rain. This period also is an awakening of nature and human feelings. That is why spring ceremonies were directed to games for young people and fortune-telling. Folk songs – vesnyanki – were peculiar emblem of spring ceremonies in Ukraine. They accompanied holidays and ceremonies.
There were two key notions in the ancient cycle of ceremonies: water and plants. Kupala is the most poetic and beautiful holiday. There was a superstition that who succeeded to pick up the flower of fern (at Kupala night it is in blossom, than lights with fire and falls) would find treasures and he would receive magic power and knowledge. That is why during Kupala night the brave ones find the fern flowers in the forest. Young girls tell fortune on garlands, young people light fires and jump over it and Kupala water has healing and cleaning power. Autumn cycle of calendar holidays does not make whole system and joined separate traditions and ceremonies. Their common character was defined by the state of nature fallen asleep and preparation for winter. Ceremonies mostly held in the house in a form of vechornytsi (evening come-together). Autumn cycle begins from Semen’s holiday coincided with the new church year and included the following holidays and ceremonies: Semen, Pokrova, St. Dmytryi, Kouzma and Damian, Ekaterina, St. George, Andriy, St. Barbara and St Nickolas. Ceremonies of autumn cycle in general were directed to family life. Weddings began from Pokrova. Other holidays of autumn cycle also were connected with weddings and telling of future bride. People did telling of fortune on Ekaterina and Andriy and the scope of these telling was very wide. Now many traditional custom are in the past, but, nevertheless, some of its elements are preserved and used in celebration of the most popular folk holidays. Folk Instruments PsalteryPsaltery is one of the oldest stringed plucking musical instruments of Eastern Slavs. The author of “Slovo o Polku Igoreve” tells us about its use and its images are appeared at fresco of St. Sophia Cathedral. The oldest psaltery had the shape of flat small plank with taut strings. Psaltery “ringing” is the instrument of skomorokhs, bylina tellers and poets. Body of psaltery was made of maple, willow or birch plank. For playing instrument was put on knees. With the right hand fingers one plucked or stroke strings and with the left hand fingers made silent the strings which should not sound that moment. On psaltery with fourteen strings one can play melodies to songs, dances and accompany singing. Kobza Beginning from times of Cossacks and up to XIX century, kobza together with bandura and lyre were used by blind wondering musicians. They played heroic Ukrainian epos called “duma”. Reflecting heroic realities of XV-XVII centuries – suffering of Ukrainian prisoners in Tatar and Turkey captivity and Cossacks victories – duma demonstrates not only folk view on history, but also personifies ideas during centuries supporting the idea of national independence.
Bandura is a plucking instrument resemble to old psaltery. Bandura has the performing possibilities like piano: you can play with ten fingers and give accords. Bandura should be kept vertically and pressed to the chest. One can play all fingers on all strings. This type of playing is called “kharkovsky” unlike from usual “chernigovsky” (bandura is turned to the left and the left had plays only on bass strings and the right hand only on extra strings). Lyre Lyre is known in Ukraine since XVII century. It often accompanied kobza or bandura. Lyra was an instrument of wondering singers – lyrnyky, whose fraternities unlike kobza players covered almost all ethnic territory of Ukraine. At one and the same time timbre peculiarities of lyre and limited manner of playing stipulated rather didactic repertoire of lyrnyky. Modern masters and musicians of Ukraine and Belarus again paid attention to the old instrument to revive it, to improve and to introduce into folk ensembles and orchestras.
Many literature sources tell us about wooden conical trumpet existed in military circles and called gorna (bugle) or Cossacks trumpet. Unfortunately, the only thing we know that it was military signal instrument. Trembita
Pipe Joining of whistle with a long spindle gives a musical instrument called whistle flute. Pipe belongs to such whistle flute in Ukraine. Because of artistic means of playing the pipe crafty musicians can get full scale which gives and opportunity to play in all keys. But it needs real skill.
Tsymbaly has rich musical palette and are used for solo playing as well as for playing in ensemble. Tsymbaly resembling psaltery, but unlike psaltery player, who makes the sound by plucking of fingers, tsymbaly player strikes the strings with special wooden sticks and the strings are grouped by three, five and some times seven strings tuned on one and the same note. For playing the instrument it is put on the table or knees or is kept before the player on a special strap allows to play standing or walking during weddings or other holidays and ceremonies. In professional and folk instrumental music special concert tsymbaly is used. It has a big range of sounds and different means of expressiveness. Tsymbalist-virtuoso rather often combines not only strikes of sticks on strings but also finger plucking when playing. National CostumesUkrainian national clothes are marked with rich regional and ethnic variety. Even neighboring villages often had differences not mentioning traditional styles of gutsul, lemkiv and rusin clothes. Besides, regional variants of clothes also formed under the influence of other ethnic groups. Though, pre-boarder territories – Polesje, Volyn, Lemkivshchyna, Boikivshchyna, Gutsulshchyna, Boukovyna – have their own variants of nationa clothes, which were formed under the influence of Polish, Romanian, Southern Slavs, Hungarians, peoples of Caucasus, Cherkessian in particular.
On the top of the shirt women in Central Ukraine during the week-days put zapaska and on holidays – plakhta girdled with kromka, a piece of fabric made of color threads with tassels on the ends. As far as adges of plakhta and zapaska did not keep together in the front, so called predshestvennitsa was put on the top of it. It resembled plakhta by color and was decorated with embroidery. Besides colored kromka narrow flax towels decorated with red stripes were used. Such belt was obligatory for the bride during weddings. Korsetka made of thin woolen fabric, velvet or silk was put on a shirt. It was waist-long or knees-long. Boots, usually of red color, were the most favorite women’s foot-ware for holidays. Shoes made of brocade were the foot-ware for girls. Bast sandals were the sign of poorness and had not much coincidence with dignity in Ukraine besides villages of Northern Polesje and Carpathians where they were spread. Color stripes and rows of necklace supplemented the clothes made it festive looking. Very often women decorated neck with the necklace of coins besides corals. Men’s national clothing consists of the shirt, trousers or wide trousers (sharovary), sleeveless jacket (men’s korsetka), belt and boots. White men’s shirt during centuries changed its appearance: from knees-long it became short with embroidered collar and cuffs at the ends of sleeves and always tucked into trousers. Such shirt has a cut in the middle on breast with the buttonholes made of silk string or stripe. Sometimes man’s korsetka is put on the shirt and girdled with a belt. Historically sleeveless jacket derives from Cossacks podzhupannyk. As for the trousers, there were two types of trousers in Ukraine since old times – narrow trousers and wide rousers. Narrow trousers were made for the belt and buttoned and wide trousers were girdled with belt. Each of two types of trousers coincide with the particular type of shirt: long shirt should be worn on the top of narrow trousers and wide trousers wore with the short shirt tucking into the trousers. Belt made of silk, wool or cotton of different colors decorated with long tassels was an integral element of men’s clothes. Not only wide trousers, but also outer clothing – zhupan, svytka and sometimes kozhukhg – was girdled with the belt. Black boots were the main foot-ware for men, but inhabitants of mountain regions worn so called morshentsy or khodoky – leather sole tied up with twine, bast or thong on the leg. Sandals made of bast were plaited in forest regions. Very old type of Slavonic foot-ware - shoes, was also spread in Ukraine.
The picture of national costume was added with head-ware and hairstyle. Men’s hairstyle was limited with haircut: “circle”, “do zakabluka”, “pod skopku” and “pod polku”. Bryl, the hat made of hey (it was not prestigious because it was the ware for poor people) or hat called koutchma (hat made of caracultcha) was worn as a head-ware. Young girls did not cover their heads and it was the sign of girl’s honor. When lost honor the girl should cover her head with kerchief called “pokrytka”. Plait was girl’s main pride. Garland, sometimes with stripes also belonged to girl’s national costume. Married women did not always cut their hair, but always covered hear with a kerchief, namitka or a cap. Women’s head-ware considered to be the most important part of her clothes, so manners of kerchiefs and namitkas arranging were rather various and complicated. Ukrainian Cuisine Ukraine is famous for its rich cuisine since ancient times. Borshch and pyshky, palianitsa and galushki, vareniki and sausages, stew and drinks of fruit and honey are known far away Ukraine. National cuisine accounts hundreds of recipes. Some food has many centuries of history, for example Ukrainian borshch. Complicated set of componens characteristic for many food (there are about 20 of them for borshch) and also combining of some ways of food heat processing (frying, boiling, stewing, baking). Such technology stipulates unforgettable tasty, aroma and juiciness of dishes of Ukrainian cuisine.Pork is first of all used among meat products and than veal and meat of birds. Ukrainians eat meat of different types, but very often fried or stewed. Such meals like stew home-style, Ukrainian bytky, buzhenyna larded with salo and garlic, pork stewed with cabbage and salo, kruchenyky, zavyvantsi, stuffed birds are very popular. Meals with meat prepared is special pots are especially tasty. Meat is often used in first course preparation. The main place among them is given to borshch. There are about 30 recipes of its cooking (Poltavskyi, Volynskyi, Chernigovskyi, Galichskyi, Lvivskyi, Krestianskyi, Dniprovskyi, etc.). Since ancient times fish occupy an important place in Ukrainians nutrition. Favorite dishes are: crucian baked in sour-cream, pike stewed with horse-radish, carp stewed with onion in sour-cream, pike-perch baked with mushrooms and crayfish, fish kruchenyky, carp stuffed with mushrooms and buckwheat, etc.
Sweet meals are widely presented in Ukrainian cuisine. Fruit, honey, poppy-seed, nuts, etc. are used in their preparation. Milk, especially baked milk and riazhenka is characteristic for Ukrainian cuisine. Compote is one of the favorite drinks. Vodka, cognac, wines, strong nastoykas are the integral part of each celebration. Many recipes of alcohol drinks are known to Ukrainians since old times. Honey vodka with red pepper joins contradicting tastes and embodies versatility and abruptness of life: bitterness of pepper, taste of honey and fragrant aroma of wild herbs is very special among numerous legendary Ukrainian vodkas. Ukrainian Borshch with Pampushki
Cooking: Prepare meat broth. Cut meat into pieces, strain the broth. Put potatoes cut into pieces and in some time shredded cabbage and chopped paprika into boiling broth and boil fro 20 minutes. Stew beat-root with tomato paste and carrot, passed onion and parsley root, add everything into the broth and boil to readiness. Flavor borshch by adding passed flour, salt and sugar. In 5 minutes add black pepper, leaf of laurel, lard grinded with garlic and parsley. Boil again, take off the fire and draw for 15-20 minutes. As a rule, borshch is served with sour-cream. For pampushki: 2,5 glasses of flour, half-glass of water, 1 table-spoonful of sugar, 12 g of yeast. For garlic sauce: 2 table-spoonful of oil, 10 cloves of garlic, half-glass of water or kwass Cooking: Dissolve yeast in warm water, add ¼ of flour, stir up and wait until rose. Add the rest of flour, butter, sugar and salt dissolved in a small quantity of water, stir up and leave for two hours for fermentation. Form balls with mass of 30 g of ready dough and leave for 15 minutes. Bake for 7-8 minutes. For sauce grind garlic with salt, mix with oil and cooled boiled water. Vareniki with Cottage-cheese
List of products for dough: 3 glasses of wheat flour, ¾ glass of milk or water, 1 egg, ½ tea-spoonful of salt. For filling: 800 g of cottage-cheese, ½ glass of sugar, 2 eggs and salt. Cooking: Part of flour pour with boiling water or milk (1/3 of the whole quantity of liquid) and after stirring up thoroughly add the rest of liquid of room temperature joining with egg (yolk is better), the rest of flour and knead the dough. Leave it for 40 minutes for gluten to swell. Add salt, sugar and fresh eggs with grated through sieve cottage-cheese. Ready cottage-cheese put on the dough made in a type of thin short-cakes, tweak the edges and put one-by-one into boiled salted water and boil for 5-7 minutes. Ready vareniki pour with butter, sour-cream is served separately. Golubtsi with Meat Ukrainian-style Golubtsi is popular Ukrainian main course joining meat, rice and vegetables. Name of the meal is ancient and originated from the word “golub” (pigeon). List of products: for 1 kg of veal – 1,2 kg of fresh cabbage, 4 table-spoonful of rice, 2 onions, 3 table-spoonful of butter, salt and pepper by taste. For sauce: ½ glass of sour-cream, 2,5 glasses of meat broth, 1 table spoonful of wheat flour and butter. Cooking: upper leaves should be taken off the small head of cabbage, washed with water, put into salted water and boil for 15-20 minutes. Than the head of cabbage should be taken off, cooled and taken into separate leaves. Cut thick ribs or break them with chopper. Put meat through meat-grinder, add rice, passed onion, pepper and salt, stir up well, put on prepared leaves of cabbage, roll the edges and shape then into rectangle form. Put golubtsy into deep stewing pan or pan, pour with sour-cream sauce and stew to readiness in the oven. Cooking of sauce: Passed the flour with butter for flour not to change its color, add sour-cream, mix it, pour hot broth, boil for 8-10 minutes on small fire, add salt, strain, make it boil and add butter. Koutia of Wheat with Poppy-seed or Jam Christmas koutia is the most characteristic holiday meal of Ukrainian cuisine. Koutia is eaten three times a year: at Christmas Eve, at Shchedryi Vechir and at Epiphany. Sereals make the basis for koutia. List of products: 500 g of wheat, 1 glass of poppy-seed, 0,5 glass of sugar and 2 spoons of honey. Cooking: Sort out and wash wheat, put it into boiling water, when boiled pour on colander, wash with cold water, put into the pan, pour water, boil covered with lid and cook till readiness on slow fire. Ready wheat put into cold place. Wash one glass of poppy-seed, pour with boiled water, pour water out, wash with cold water, pour it out, once more pour with boiled water, pour with cold water, again pour it out, grind poppy-seed in a cup until white color appeared, add 0,5 glass of sugar or 2 spoons of honey, pour some cool water and mix with the wheat. Glass of berries and fruit from jam without juice could be put into wheat instead of poppy-seed, pour some sweetened boiled water. Compote List of products: dried fruit – 125 g, sugar – 75 g, honey – 50 g. Ready compote – 1 liter. Cooking: take dried pears, apples, plums, raisins. Sort out, big ones cut into pieces, three times wash with warm water and boil (under closed lid) to readiness. Add sugar, honey, make it boil again and than cool it. |
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Religious holidays are distinguished by special traditions of their celebration and color characteristic only for Ukraine. It unites Christian or orthodox traditions with belief came to us from very ancient times. Christmas celebrations in Ukraine are extremely splendid and beautiful. On the eve of the holiday, on 6 January, families following traditions prepare festive supper. Under the ancient custom 12 lean dishes are served and the main if them is sweet koutia. Everybody sits down at the table with the first star rose. People congratulate each other with the words: “Christ has been born!”
Words: “Christ rose from dead” is a greeting during Easter. White clothes, color towels and embroidered shirts make the holiday especial purity and elation. Special attention should be paid to such integral accessory of the holiday as the art of Ukrainian pysanka which still strikes people with beauty and refinement of its symbolism.
Resolution “On Declaration of Independence of Ukraine” adopted by Supreme Rada of the Ukrainian SSR on 24 August 1991, was the act of Ukrainian people’s has declared and finally settled the independent Ukrainian State. This day marked the end of centuries-old fight of Ukrainians for their independence and became the main national holiday – Independence Day.
Calendar ceremonies are divided into four main cycles: winter, spring, summer and autumn. Each cycle of ceremonies were devoted, on one hand, to natural phenomenon, on the other – to appropriate types of agricultural activities.
The most interesting is old cycle of ceremonies begins at the end of May and ends at Golovoseka (beginning of September). It includes the following holidays: Green Holidays (Trinity), Ivana Kupala, Peter’s Day (Day of St Peter and St. Paul), Macovei, Ilya’s Day, Panteleimon the Healer, Spas and other forgotten holidays of gods Yarilo, Lada, holidays of thunder and others.
Bandura
In old times trembita was a signal instrument. Trembita is made of special type of pine’s core (all Carpathians are covered with larch forests). Piece of wood is split into two, cut half by cutting instrument and tightly wrapped round with birch bark. Such instrument can produce only natural sounds. The length of trembita can reach 4 meters. It sound could be heard by more than 10 km and announced that there should be very important news. This traditional for Ukrainians instrument is still in use.
Tsymbaly
Ukrainian national costume made a long way to its “classic” appearance. Some of its elements remained almost unchangeable since times of ancient Slavs. From ancient Slavs Ukrainian costume inherited most spread women’s clothes – long shirt girdled with belt. It is decorated with embroidered magic ornaments. By the way, embroidery is he main decoration of national costume. Mainly “under” clothes – men and women shirts were embroidered as well as some accessories (belts). The design of shirt can tell where it is from, because each region has its favorite combination of colors, can tell the sex (i.e. sleeves of shirt for women were wide and ended at the wrist with thickly embroidered cuffs, while the sleeves in the shirt for men were straight), its owner approximate age and also the purpose of the shirt – it could be everyday, for holiday or for wedding.
In winter men and women worn kozhukh made of tanned sheep skin. Some variants of outer clothing existed for warmer weather: svitka made of thick woolen fabric often dyed in bright color and decorated with embroidery and lighter keptar in Western and zhupan in Central Ukraine. Zhupan came from times of Cossacks. Sometimes there was kuntush – the clothing of XVI century.
Meals made of flour are always present in Ukrainian menu: vareniki, galushki, blini, nalistniki, kruchenyky, babky. Different kashas are very popular: millet, buckwheat, pumpkin, kasha of buckwheat flour eaten with milk, sour-cream or sunflower oil with fried onion, mamalyga and others.
List of necessary products: 500 g of meat, 4 potatoes, 200 g of fresh cabbage, 40 g of paprika, 1 beat-root, 3 table spoonful of tomato paste, 40 g of lard, 2 onions, 1 carrot, half root of parsley, 1 tea spoonful of flour, same quantity of sugar, 20 g of salted pork fat, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 table spoonful of sour-cream, spices, greens by taste.
ÝThis meal of flour and filling, as well as borshch considered to be the most typical in Ukrainian national cuisine. The word “vareniki” originates from the verb “varit” (to boil). Varenik has a shape of small envelope of dough, where different fillings – potato, cabbage, mushrooms, haricot, meat, salted cottage-cheese, sweet cottage-cheese, sweet fruit or berries are put in. Ready meal is served with sour-cream or butter with fried onion. Vareniki with cottage-cheese are the most popular. They are often mentioned in Ukrainian folklore.