Kvirikoba, K'ala, Svaneti, Georgia, 29/7/2010

Above the village of K'ala stands this beautiful little church, reachable by a somewhat tortuous track. The Kvirikoba festival, Svaneti's most important religious event after Christmas and Easter, happens here, visited by hundreds of people in late July from all over the world.

Top 2, people watching a strongman competition - the rock is not only very heavy, it's also very difficult to get a firm grip on due to its size

Bottom - view of part of K'ala, with Mt Ushba (top centre) presiding over all, nice weather for it

People of Georgia

An odd assortment today.

Top: a former landlord, Tengiz, furniture restorer. He and his family lived on the 2nd floor of a house in Tbilisi, I on the gound floor. I was there for more than 3 years - can't remember when in the last 20 years I've been in the same place for so long, such is my life.

2nd: view from Nariqala Church over Tbilisi's Old City, winter a few years ago.

3rd: one of my very favourite shots of Tbilisi - Rustaveli Avenue, opposite the Opera House.

4th: from the Kvirikoba Church festival in K'ala, Upper Svaneti, July 2007.

Kvirikoba, July 28, 2007

The final two clips from the festival this year. I was fascinated, though a big disappointment was not seeing the fabulous icon, possible only at some point on this day once a year. I suspect that it was brought out for display only after I had set off to walk the 10 km back to Ushguli.

Kvirikoba, July 28, 2007 (top to bottom)

Top: here's what a successful lifting of the Big Rock looks like.

Bottom: general view of the festival and some of the 30 people with whom I travelled to Svaneti this time.

Kvirikoba, Svaneti, July 28, 2007 (top to bottom)

Three from the Kvirikoba festval in K'ala, the first time I was there.

Top - part of the long, steep walk from the road up to the church itself. Even elderly people, though, were making the trip.

Middle - the crowd planting candles on the church walls and having their prayers read out, while the bell-ringer did his thing & shouted, "Hamin!" (Amen)

Bottom - one of the event's feats of strength, the lifting of a large rock which is not only heavy but quite unwieldy into the bargain. Popular with the young toughs showing off. Out of my league for both size and mass; and to whom would I strut my stuff anyway?

K'ala, Svaneti, July 28, 2007

Wrapping up Kvirikoba. More animal sacrifices (lots of those), picnics, feats of strength for young men involving a huge stone or bell to pick up and move... I would estimate that 1000 people came through for the event. TV cameras were there as well, and foreigners from: Armenia, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Iran, Israel, Japan, Poland, Spain and the UK.

The top shot is a last look at Ushba above K'ala before clouds claimed it for the day.

K'ala, Svaneti, July 28, 2007

Kvirikoba at last. From the bottom:

Lighting candles & sticking them to the outer walls of the church.

Women in the part of the church which they can enter.

People paying the pray-er (see hand holding up money) and bellringer to do their thing all day long, praying for each family and ringing the bell with a loud "Hamen! Hamen!". I was waiting for this to finish in the hope that after it the fabled, fabulous icon of Kririke Church would be revealed for its once-per-year viewing. Maybe it was, but as I had to walk back to Ushguli that day (3 hours of dusty, hot roads), I left too early for that event. Ah well, beter planning nexy time.

A magnificent goat being led off for sacrifice and consumption, joining many animals that day. The smoke at right is from fires with large cauldrons set over them for all that meat.

Kvirike Church, upper Svaneti, November 2003

Visible in the background, the church is locked, high on a hill with a steep path winding up to it. In 2005 some friends and I paid for the privelege of having it opened for us, with a guide to take us up and in. Kvirike is guarded 24/7 in shifts by villagers. Because...
Among its icons is one in chased gold, one of the most important icons in the entire Orthodox world, which was stolen years ago, before such heavy guarding began. The thieves ran away with their prize across the mountains... and were pursued by the locals who, catching up to them, stoned them to death and recovered the treasure. Although we saw other beautiful Orthodox icons in the church, the main item remained locked away in its own strongbox; it is displayed only once a year, for Kvirikoba, the famous festival of this church.
In the foreground are a metal cross and some bottles. One is supposed to drink a toast to the local saint; but not, presumably, to then litter the ground with empty bottles? (One step back would reveal what I'm describing.) The fact is that there's no organised garbage collection service at ALL in this part of the country, so it's not just a matter of shaming people into not polluting in this manner. Complicated. But garbage strewn in Svaneti is still an easy sell to locals as a sin against nature and God.