Epress.am News from Armenia
After adopting the Julian calendar, people in the Soviet Union, either not quite understanding the change in the holidays or simply in the face of tradition, continued to celebrate Old New Year, ethnographer Hranush Kharatyan told Epress.am.
“The Julian calendar brought many changes to our lives. Even at religious celebrations, which develop according to a completely different logic, the Armenian population, particularly in Talin, Vayk and other areas, celebrates certain holidays by the old calendar. For example, in Vayk, for a long time — and even today — they celebrate Tiarn’ndaraj not on Feb. 14 but 13 days later,” she said.
“The expression Old New Year has entered our lexicon, and people try to make meaning, have additional get-togethers and kick start the year. I think [though that] it’s a passing fad,” she said.
“According to medieval tradition, the [date of] New Year has often been changed. After the calendar changes, a significant part of New Year’s rituals either remained in the past or changed a few times a year, and New Year’s rituals could be observed every season,” she said.
The ethnographer is convinced that with time, the tradition of celebrating Old New Year will fade, and along with the change in these 13 days, some phenomena will remain which already don’t have any connection with New Year.