PHOTOGRAPHY: Tbilisoba. By the Georgian Dina Oganova (georgianphotographers.com)

(georgianphotographers.com) Tbilisoba is a holiday,celebrating in the capital of Georgia-Tbilisi, it’s also call “city’s day”. It was first held in 1979 and has since become an established tradition.

Tbilisoba. Photo by Dina Oganova

More photos by Dina Oganova are here in georgianphotographers.com

BLOGGER: Onnik Krikorian is one of the best blogger from the caucasian area

Now I will give my readers some posts of Onnik Krikorian - one of the best bloggers from the Caucasus. He is writing and taking photos for different medias. for the Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan & he has got also his own blog: http://oneworld.blogsome.com


Caucasus: Polarized Politics von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
This being the year of elections in the South Caucasus, Marilisa Lorusso's Blog says that reasoned political debate has given way to aggression and a polarized environment that will be difficult to reconcile later. The post also rounds up the latest election-related news from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Azerbaijan: Children's Show von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
An American in Azerbaijan says that he is becoming increasingly frustrated by working with a local television station on a show for children. Exasperated by a tight deadline, the blogger says that his work is frustrated by a “lack of vision” from ANS TV.

Azerbaijan: Ethnic Novelist von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Window on Eurasia says that a book by ethnic Azerbaijani author Eduard Bagirov is causing a stir as a best seller throughout the Russian Federation. In particular, notes the blog, Bagirov's books generally examines the “extraordinary difficulties Azerbaijanis and other non-Russians living in the Russian capital now face in trying to cope with the rising level of xenophobic attitudes among Russians.”

Azerbaijan: Fashion Trends von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Leigh’s new adventure in Azerbaijan takes a look at trends in fashion in the former Soviet republic. In particular, the blog notes, women are significantly more stylish and less conservative than men.

Caucasus: High Speed Internet von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Social Science in the Caucasus says that 3 percent of Georgians have Internet access at home, but that it's quality leaves something to be desired. While Azerbaijan has the fastest download speed in the region, the Caucasus still lags behind the developed world.

Azerbaijan: Living is Easy? von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Carolyn & Jesse's Azerbaijan Peace Corps Blog says that life in Azerbaijan during the winter isn't so easy, but it is interesting. The two PCVs describe living through the cold season in the land of fire.

Azerbaijan: Analyzing Black January von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Asking Tough Questions in Tough Places analyzes another blog post on the 18th anniversary of Black January in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan: The Day the Soviet Union Died von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Window on Eurasia remembers the events and circumstances surrounding Black Friday, 20 January 1990, when Soviet troops went on the rampage in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku. The blog says the event marked the end of the former Soviet Union.

Azerbaijan: Funeral Rites von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Leigh’s new adventure in Azerbaijan reflects on the funeral rites and customs practiced in the country.

Armenia: Azerbaijani Response von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Blogian says that the Azerbaijani media as well as parliamentarians have responded to the blogger establishing a website and blog detailing the destruction of an ancient Armenian cemetery in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan.

Armenia: Ethnic Hatred von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
The Armenian Observer posts a digest of translated excerpts from blog posts examining ethnic hatred between Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Turks.

Azerbaijan: Economic Illumination von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Window on Eurasia ponders whether studying images of former Soviet republics at night can't provide an insight into their economic well-being. If it can, the blog says, economic growth in Azerbaijan far outstrips that in neighboring Armenia and Georgia.

Armenia: Another Blogger Outraged at Azerbaijan Event von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Blogian weighs into the controversy that surrounded the opening of a Days of Azerbaijan funded by the British Embassy in Yerevan earlier this week. Supporting the action of those bloggers who protested the event in person, Simon says that such an event is unthinkable on the second anniversary of the destruction of Armenian khachkars (stone crosses) in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan.

Azerbaijan: Schools von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Social Science in the Caucasus looks at a recent international study of schools in Azerbaijan and says that the results are concerning.

Azerbaijan: Sheki von Global Voices Online » Azerbaijan von Onnik Krikorian
Carolyn & Jesse's Azerbaijan Peace Corps Blog posts photographs and an account of a visit to the Azerbaijani mountain town of Sheki.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Alilo in Tbilisi

Can anywhere explain this celebration? What is happen there? And what is the meaning of this parade?

Uploaded on January 8, 2008 by Paata Vardanashvili (www.paata.ge)

CELEBRATION: MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

Catholics in Tbilisi made the christmas celebration

Uploaded on December 24, 2007 by Dato Rostomashvili

REISE:

Tbilisoba in Tbilisi

Normalerweise findet diese legendäre Stadtfest immer in der letzten Oktoberwoche statt. Diesmal wurde es kurzerhand vorverlegt - aus was für Gründen auch immer? Ich kannte dieses Fest immer nur vom Hörensagen. Dieser Tag wurde ins Leben gerufen, wie so viele Feste, indem die Bauern und Land- und Bergbewohner in die Stadt fuhren und ihre Waren auf individuelle Weise feilboten. Wie das vor sich ging, kann man sich sicher vorstellen, wie das dann die Kaukasier anstellen - klingt zumindest abenteuerlich.
Gestern nun wurde ich von einer Freundin nach Kakhetien eingeladen. Als ich sagte, dass ich gehört hatte, dass Tbilisoba wäre, und ich das noch nicht kennen würde, fragte sie mich, ob ich das Stadtfest vorziehen möchte. Natürlich schlug ich ihre Einladung nicht aus. In Kakhetien selbst, nähe Gurjani, war ich dann etwas verwundert, dass es einen Toast gab, bei dem darauf getrunken wurde, dass ich nicht bei Tbilisoba wäre, sondern an ihrer Tafel säße. Das kam mir etwas ungewöhnlich vor, dass sich die Georgier so vehemet dagegen verhielten - früher wurde immer von Tbilisoba geschwärmt ...


Als wir jedoch zurück in die Stadt fuhren, wurde mir das ganze Ausmaß jedoch klar. Tbilisoba unterschied sich in keiner Weise mehr von von den wild ausufernenden Stadtfesten, die man auch in Deutschland antreffen kann. Dazu möchte ich mich jetzt nicht ausführlich äußern. Gelenkte Massen, Medienpräsenz, große Bühne, durchschnittliches Programm u.s.w. - Nirgendwo sah ich die Landbevölkerung. Immer wieder beruft man sich hier auf Traditionen, nur in diesem Fall vermisste ich das Bruzzeln von Schaschlik inmitten der Stadt ... diese charmante, wilde Anarchie der Eigeninitiative. Tbilisoba ist eine Kampagne geworden, mit deneneinige ihr Geld verdienen, wobei die von außerhalb wohl eine Woche zu spät kommen.

Photos and Text on October 21, 2007 by Ralph Hälbig

FEATURES Tbilisoba-the Day of the City, the famous festival for entire Georgia, for the first time during 25 years passed untraditionally. ...

Georgia Daily Digest Mr President, residents of Tbilisi celebrated Tbilisoba, the festival of Tbilisi, yesterday and ... I am happy that our people have already turned Tbilisoba ...

“Tbilisoba 2007” To Be Celebrated On October 20-21 Tbilisi. October 19 (Prime-News) – “Tbilisoba 2007” will be celebrated in the capital of Georgia on October 20-21.

TBILISOBA album | FotoNews ® Nikolai Komissarov | Fotki.com FotoNews ® Nikolai Komissarov photos: TBILISOBA - ... Public Home > 2006 Year's Photos … > TBILISOBA. Public Home · DJ VERSACE @ SOFIA, PAZZO - L… ...

REPORTAGE & PHOTOGRAPHY:

ARMENIAN FESTIVAL COMBINES PAGANISM AND NATIONALISM
By Onnik Krikorian 7/27/07 (EurasiaNet) with great photos

Tradition, in the South Caucasus, dies hard. With the ancient July festival of Vardavar, one small group of Armenians is seeing a chance to relive Armenia’s pagan past, and affirm the country’s national identity.
Armenia adopted Christianity as its state religion in 301 AD, thereafter destroying or converting its pagan temples. For most Armenians, this date represents the turning point for their nation, and one that would later distance it from Muslim neighbors in Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkey.
But each year at Armenia’s only remaining pagan temple, at Garni, 32 kilometers east of Yerevan, a few hundred Armenians gather to celebrate Vardavar as an event that they consider represents Armenians’ true and original faith. The festival is perhaps the most popular of all traditional and religious events in the Armenian calendar, with youngsters and adults gleefully dumping water over hapless passers-by.
The celebration has now been absorbed into the Christian calendar, but was traditionally associated with Astghik, the Armenian goddess of water, beauty, love and fertility. The festival’s name is derived from the Armenian word for rose, "vard." Early observers of Vardavar offered Astghik roses and sprinkled water on each other, or feasted near water in the hope that she would provide rain in time for harvest.
Now re-invented to represent the transfiguration of Christ, the holiday is scheduled by the Armenian Church to be held approximately 98 days after Easter.
At Garni, pagan priests placed sacrificial knives in fire, as well as rose petals in earthenware jugs of water, before reading aloud from the Ukhtagir, a collection of pre-Christian folk stories and legends immortalizing Armenia’s pagan gods written by Slak Kakosian, the founder of the Pagan Covenant, one of Armenia’s main pagan organizations. Founded in 1990, the group now claims it has over 1,000 members.
In the group’s events, nationalism and paganism mingle equally. "We are pagans," said 43-year-old Zohrab Petrosian, Kakosian’s successor. "We are Armenians, but we don’t know our true religion. Simply lighting a candle in a church or wearing a cross around our necks does not make us Christian. I’ve been a member of this organization for 10 years, but as an Armenian I’ve been pagan since the day I was born."
At the Garni Vardavar observances, one of the highest-profile attendees was Armen Avetisian, leader of the ultra-nationalist Union of Armenian Aryans, who received a three-year suspended sentence in 2005 for inciting racial hatred against Jews. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Avetisian and his followers wore black t-shirts featuring the picture of Garegin Njdeh, an Armenian national hero who lived from 1886-1955. Njdeh was a skillful military leader and anti-Bolshevik activist who developed a philosophy that blended religious and nationalist elements. His ideas have been influential in shaping the political platforms of modern-day parties, including the governing Republican Party of Armenia, as well as its junior coalition partner, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation – Dashnakstutiun.
Until recently, many of those attending the pagan festivals were affiliated with the Republican Party, but now members of other parties are starting to join in. This year, for example, apart from members of the Union of Armenian Ayrans, most other people in attendance identified themselves as members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation – Dashnakstutiun.
The appearance of ultra-nationalists, however, raises concern in some circles that the pagan movement could make a radical departure toward the extreme right. Armenian pagans tend to dismiss the concern, though. Many at the Garni observances said politics wasn’t a factor for them. Robert Garabedian, an ethnic Armenian astrophysicist from Germany, was baptized as a pagan at the Garni event. Speaking to EurasiaNet, Garabedian said that spending Vardavar at the temple site carried a personal rather than political significance. "I’m Zoroastrian, Christian and Buddhist, and now I want to be baptized into the same religion that my [Armenian] ancestors followed," he said.
The hordes of children drenching pedestrians and motorists with water usually overshadow any such quests for meaning on Vardavar. Even so, Armenia’s pagans might take comfort in the fact that torrential rains unexpectedly hit Armenia at the festival’s end on July 15. As the rain poured down in the days that followed, one can only wonder if Astghik wasn’t listening, after all.

Editor’s Note: Onnik Krikorian is a journalist and photographer from the United Kingdom living and working in the Republic of Armenia.

There are more photographs at the following URLs: (Thanks Onnik!!!)http://oneworld.blogsome.com/2007/07/15/vardavar-garni-kotayk-region/
http://oneworld.blogsome.com/2007/07/15/vardavar-garni-kotayk-region-2/
http://oneworld.blogsome.com/2007/07/15/pagan-armenians-celebrate-vardavar/