Ksenia Kardonova, About Zul
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Ksenia Kardonova talks about the traditional holiday of Zul: Zul is the holiday when children add one year to their age. For example, if a child is 3 years old, after Zul he/she will be 4 years old. On the day of Zul guests and relatives are invited for celebration. In the evening, when the star called ‘tsolmn’ appears in the sky, people pray. The day before Zul, people prepare special boat-shaped containers made from dough called ‘zulyn ongts’. Grass stems that are prepared in advance are stuck into the dough boats. The number of stems is equal to a person’s age to whom the candle-boat is dedicated plus a few more stems as a sign of the addition of age. In the evening the candles (zul) are lit and everyone prays. After this ritual, the dough boats (‘zulyn ongts’) are fried in butter and given to children to eat. During my parents’ time, all the children would compete by running, the winner would have a first bite of raw dough from the recently burnt out zul. Bortsg for Tsagan Sar are made of various forms, but for Zul one can make any bortsg. My mother wore a Kalmyk hat and before praying in front of zul (a lit candle) she would always take the hat off.