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<< -- 7 -- Howard Smith VISIONARY DEVELOPMENTS
By 19 January, a break in our guest's schedule enable us to join local onlookers as Orthodox Kazakhs celebrated the Baptism of Christ, immersing themselves in freezing waters through holes specially prepared in the Ural River ice. Across the independent republics and Russia itself many more observed this same age-old rite.
On the frozen River Ural - a Kazakh lady prepares to plunge into icy waters. Photo © 2004 Howard Smith
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According to long-held tradition, on the day of Baptism believers plunge themselves into water blessed by Orthodox clergy, thereby following the example of Jesus Christ, consecrated in the Jordan by John the Baptist. This year the 'Uralsk Jordan' consisted of two ice holes in the broad river; flowing from Russia's Urals to the Caspian Sea.
Preparing to congregate and hear the blessing at the river. Photo © 2004 Howard Smith
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Uralsk people bundled in thick greatcoats, black fur hats and sturdy winter boots picked their way, some assisting fellow citizens, down treacherous ice-encrusted steps behind the large, golden-domed Orthodox church; eager to watch from vantage points on the ice or river bank. Smoke from iron braziers hung in the chilly air beneath skeletal trees where vendors grilled Kazah-style kebabs. In the highest branches large crows complained noisily at the silent procession of people moving across snow and ice beneath. And out on the ice, hardy souls stripped to shorts or undergarments -- crossed themselves and, three times, symbolically plunged from sight in the freezing waters.
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Copyright © 7 March 2004
Howard Smith, Masterton, New Zealand
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