Kryvorivnia. Hutsul Koliada in Spite of the Bans

Kryvorivnia. Hutsul Koliada in Spite of the Bans

"On Sunday morning, an early sunrise brought joy and glory to cherry gardens" - these lines begin a carol which has been heard in the village of Kryvorivnia in the Hutsul region for over 100 years.

The tradition of Koliada has been a part of the winter holidays since the pre-Christian times, and it has continued until today, uninterrupted.

Neither adoption of Christianity nor the Soviet bans could break this lasting tradition: the singing of men and the ritual of Koliada in this village in the heart of the Carpathian Mountains.

In the old times, the carollers represented the spirits of the ancestors.

Later, the archaic and the Christian culture intertwined, and Koliada turned from pagan to Christian, which means the birth of the sun and the birth of baby Jesus merged.

Koliada is considered to reproduce the model of the church: it even starts in the churchyard.

Father Ivan Besides the carollers themselves, Father Ivan Rybaruk, the local priest, cherishes the rite.

Father says he wishes every village in the Hutsul region would be like Kryvorivnia, where each hamlet or part of the village has its own company of carollers: - There are villages where half of all people go carolling, there are villages where a quarter do, in some villages only a tiny portion do.

It is only who have the whole village involved in Koliada.

Kryvorivnia has nine hamlets and thus nine companies of carollers.

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