Kryvorivnia. Hutsul Koliada in
Spite of the Bans
"On Sunday morning, an early
sunrise brought joy and glory to
cherry gardens" - these lines begin
a carol which has been heard in the
village of Kryvorivnia in the Hutsul
region for over 100 years.
The tradition of Koliada has
been a part of the winter
holidays since the pre-Christian
times, and it has continued until
today, uninterrupted.
Neither adoption of Christianity nor
the Soviet bans could break this
lasting tradition: the singing of men
and the ritual of Koliada in this
village in the heart of the
Carpathian Mountains.
In the old times, the
carollers represented the
spirits of the ancestors.
Later, the archaic and the
Christian culture intertwined, and
Koliada turned from pagan to
Christian, which means the birth
of the sun and the birth of baby
Jesus merged.
Koliada is considered to
reproduce the model of the
church: it even starts in the
churchyard.
Father Ivan Besides the
carollers themselves, Father
Ivan Rybaruk, the local
priest, cherishes the rite.
Father says he wishes every village in the
Hutsul region would be like Kryvorivnia, where
each hamlet or part of the village has its own
company of carollers: - There are villages
where half of all people go carolling, there are
villages where a quarter do, in some villages
only a tiny portion do.
It is only who have the
whole village involved in
Koliada.
Kryvorivnia has nine
hamlets and thus nine
companies of carollers.
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