There are many forgotten customs and traditions. There is a lot to learn about outdated traditions in order to revive them. One of them is "kursak shashu" and "kalzha". What is the meaning and significance? The next interview of the national portal "Adyrna" was with a well-known culturologist, ethnographer Mr. Serik Ergali.
Nowadays, a young woman who knows that she is pregnant knows how to tell her mother or her husband in different ways.However, there is a tradition of “kursak shashu” that summarizes this beautiful thing.
- What is the main meaning of this tradition that we do not know?
- Kursak shashu is a custom. It's not a wedding. Knowing that the bride is pregnant, the mother or uncle informs the people around her, performs a special ritual and sets the table. A small gathering of people. Then, special attention is paid to the bride.
- Yes, sir. You said it wasn't a wedding. And in some places, they usually have a big celebration. Isn't that an exaggeration? After all, we reform all the rituals to the big party.
- Due to the fact that the Kazakh people are now experiencing urbanization in rural areas, they have confused, renewed, turned everything into a show, a wedding.Unfortunately, now the table of mourning is like a wedding. You can't even identify.Of course, it is better to revive and remind the tradition. It is necessary to propagandize. And there are special institutions, projects and centers that implement this. There is a political project "Spiritual Revival".But, unfortunately, the right work is not being done in this direction. Indeed, there are no specialists in the field of "Spiritual Revival" who can revive such worlds. Employees do not even know the language, let alone traditions.Therefore, this issue is a separate topic.
- There is such a tradition of bringing mother and daughter-in-law closer, but why is the topic "mother and daughter-in-law" relevant?
- Due to changes in the lifestyle of the people, it is impossible to preserve the old traditions and spirituality. Traditions are preserved in the countryside, and the views of the townspeople are opposed. This is a trend that affects not only us, but all people. When a person's life cycle changes, it becomes difficult to keep in touch with traditions.During this time, the student of the family falls and goes back. Therefore, in our country, 40-45% of young people are divorced.In this case, the relationship between mother and daughter-in-law is a difficult one.
The mother does not know much about the upbringing of the bride, and the relationship between them is not good because of the wrong upbringing of the bride. Now mothers themselves run away from caring for their grandchildren. It is not because of the good or bad of mothers, but because their lifestyles and consciousness are changing.Therefore, the way of life of the past centuries does not correspond to the living of modern development. Therefore, it is necessary to restore a new version of the institution that will withstand it. What we call the institution of mother and daughter-in-law is not a family institution, but a dynasty institution. A dynasty is a family of several sons descended from the same ancestor.If the parents and the family institution in Karashanyrak worked well, then their daughters-in-law would have a good relationship with them. It will not be the same after the lack of parental upbringing in the family. The mother leaves on her own, the bride on her own. They enjoy the occasional encounter. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account big sociological and psychological issues. All this is a well-founded tradition. Today mothers are not in a position to keep traditions. Maybe one is strong in tradition, one is trying not to deviate from tradition, but now the time is different.There is a program "Zhety Ata" approved by the public fund "El sana, amanat". Its seven grandparents are an institution that unites relatives of up to seven grandparents. However, it cannot be taught as a school textbook or developed at the community level. The state should start it.
If the state takes this step, it will rise to a new level, becoming an institution that expresses the brotherhood of the Kazakh people, family ties, the relationship between parents, daughters-in-law and children.Unfortunately, in this regard, the revitalization of institutions based on the traditions of the Kazakh people has not yet begun.This was to be done within the framework of the Spiritual Revival program.Unfortunately, there are no specialists who understand such an institution and study it.Such a goal is almost non-existent in the game of experts.
- Why is the tradition of kursak shashu, which increases the unity and respect in the family, becoming obsolete?
- Any customs, traditions, rituals, all the origins of the place come from the resources of the faith, religious and philosophical potential of the people of that nation. Pregnancy is a tradition of the ancient Kazakh people, the Turks, with a history of several thousand years, rooted in pre-Islamic divinity.
Therefore, we should be thankful that the ancient tradition still survives. Because in the Islamic tradition, rituals based on religion are completely different. There is no ritual of kursak shashu. Nevertheless, our ancestors and people brought it to this day. And I recently heard that there is a collection based on the Muslim tradition, not kursak shashu, after the birth of a child.The modern Kazakh people are moving from the ancient ancestral traditions to other customs. That is, they are forming the traditions and customs of other nations based on religion.There were many such customs in the Soviet Union. Over the past 30 years, some of them have taken on a new form in connection with ancestral traditions. Therefore, the tradition of kursak shashu should be adapted to the modern world by the state. These topics are always relevant.Tradition will never disappear. Kursak shashu is not a lost tradition, it exists in many countries. It was made by the Kazakh people as a big celebration. It was only among the women who began to enter at the level of the seven fathers. Kursak shashu is considered to be the beginning of a young woman's adaptation to motherhood.
- What do you think about the fact that this wedding, which brings the bride's food and is considered to be a back-and-forth meeting of women, has now become a gender party that determines the sex of the child?
- Every day, due to globalization, various informational, traditional neo-traditions are tested. Under the influence of external influences, people of different genes, whether it is a party or not, come up with new traditions for themselves to relax and have fun in the complex life of the city. The old is distorted. In order not to confuse our traditions, the state must make a decision in the interests of the nation.
- Apart from the tradition of kursak shashu, there is also a "kalzha". The purpose of the party is to show respect to the bride, to help her recover from the moment she arrives from the maternity hospital. Is it celebrated now?
- Who is responsible for kalzha? Is it the duty of the in-laws?
- First of all, her husband is responsible for Kalzha. He must have an animal to slaughter. You need to be prepared for it. If the husband has not yet arrived, the grandfather of the newborn, the family is responsible. If he can't find cattle in Kalzha, he is worth a penny. No in-laws, ie Turks, have anything to do with it. The birth, upbringing and maintenance of the child are all the work of the husband's family.During the Soviet era, it was said that a cousin was given a cradle. There is no cradle gift in Kazakh. Everyone should give their cradle to their descendants. Because the baby needs to be raised in the cradle. Uncle is another tribe.
- The topic of modern attitudes to the bride is relevant. In fact, it is clear from such a forgotten tradition that the Kazakhs looked at the world. Would this problem be alleviated if a kursak shashu and kalzha were celebrated in every home?
These customs do not solve any problem. The space in which the problem arises, it will solve the problem. If the problem is at the family level, the family should decide. At the district, regional, state level, it should be decided by the district, region, state. That is the solution to any problem. Tradition does not solve any problem.
Traditions were not invented to solve the problem. Traditions are a question of cognition, philosophical, educational, psychological, social formation of a nation. But indirectly, its consequences help to solve many problems.
Inzhu Umirzak,
National portal "Adyrna"
English version is edited by:Nagima Bazarkizi
