Wedding customs

A lot of remarkable traditions of the Kazakh people find full reflection in wedding customs. All the process of marrying was divided into several parts. The first part was of course a match making. It started with a preliminary arrangement. For this purpose the father of a prospective groom sent a matchmaker to the bride's father. For the match-making the so called "happy day" was chosen. Wednesdays and Thursdays were quite common for it.

If the girl's father agreed to the proposal, a special present was given to the matchmaker. After a traditional payment kalym the groom brought some specific gifts - clothes for the bride's parents and for their relatives, meat and dairy delicatessens, dried fruit and sweets.

Women threw dried fruit and other sweets at the groom, because it was a symbol of abundance and prosperity. This custom was called shashu.

The Kazakhs preferred to hold wedding ceremonies for their daughters and sons in autumn or at the end of the summer season. A wedding party was usually made during the full moon period. This choice was not casual. Light nights are very convenient both for traditional wedding games altybakan (swings), asyiek (a game with a white bone). The presence of childless couples at the wedding ceremony was considered to be undesirable, as they could bewitch the future family's happiness with the evil eye.

They say there is a connection between the day of a wedding and the future destiny of the family. If the weather is nice on the day of the wedding party, the family life of the newlyweds will be happy. The wedding party was usually divided into two parts. First it was held in the bride's house, then in the place where the groom lived.

Aisha bibi mausoleum

The famous Aisha Bibi Mausoleum has been visited by thousands of people for many centuries. There were a lot of different versions of a legend about a beautiful girl Aisha. This sad story is considered the most truthful of them.

The young governor of Taraz, Karakhan Muhammad fell in love with a beautiful girl named Aisha. She was a daughter of a Moslem sacred man, Zengy Baba by name. The girl fell in love with him too. On coming back to Taraz Karakhan missed the girl. The girl decided to see her darling by all means. She asked for her parents' blessing to go. It was impossible for the girl to do such things on those days. The angry parents forbade their daughter to go to Karakhan. But nothing could stop the brave girl. At night she left home quietly with the nurse's assistance. The aim of their way was Taraz. They stopped to have a short rest on the bank of the river. But a venomous snake bit Aisha. She died. Mourning his love, Karakhan buried her on the hill.

The most talented masters and foremen invited by him built a wonderful Mausoleum above the tomb. There was no equal one to this Mausoleum in all of Central Asia. Having buried her girl, the nurse Babadzha Khatun remained Aisha's tomb keeper up to the end of her days. As a sign to recognize her fidelity she was ranked to be a sacred person. She was buried near her girl's grave and above the tomb a Mausoleum was built too.

Aisha Bibi Mausoleum amazes everybody with its great skill and rich fantastic art. In all seasons of the year, in spite of their age, people hurry here believing earnestly in their recovery both spiritually and bodily. This is a place where everyone meditates, makes plans and gains again a sense of life. That is the main sacrament of this holy place.