A Comparative Study of some Iranian and Bulgarian Festive Traditions: Worship of the Sun Deity
A Comparative Study of some Iranian and Bulgarian Festive Traditions: Worship of the Sun Deity

Summary/Abstract: This paper discusses certain similarities in the ritual practices related to certain Bulgarian and Iranian festivals. There seems to be a common ground regarding the divinization of the Sun and solar movement throughout the year pointing at four significant astronomical events: the winter and summer solstice and the spring and autumn equinox. The symbolic representation of the resurrecting Sun deity is incorporated in some of the most popular festivals of Iranian and Bulgarian peoples, albeit concealed in later religious interpretational layers. The most conspicuous similarities are observed between the rituals of Iranian Nowruz and Yalda and Bulgarian Koleda, Ignazhden and other minor festivals. On the one hand, these affinities must be regarded as a shared Indo-European heritage evident in other cultures, too, but not as an exclusively Indo-European phenomenon. On the other hand, certain cultural and linguistic proximities as a result of prolonged historical contacts must also be taken into account.

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