#188: Nooruz and Kök Börü

Nooruz (Nawruz in Persian), also known as the Kyrgyz New Year, is a big holiday in Kyrgyzstan. Many in Kyrgyzstan mistakenly think it is a Islamic holiday. However, Nooruz, celebrated every year on March 21 (equinox), was adopted by the Kyrgyz and many other people in Central Asia and the Caucasus under Persian cultural influence.

Anyways, on March 21 I grabbed my camera and went to the race track to watch the Kök Börü championship. Kök Börü is known in the West by the Afghan Buzkashi. Although, the game itself is called Ulak Tartysh (literally, pull the goat), it was modified as a game with standardized rules.

Although it was announced that there would be several teams from Kazakhstan, they apparently did not come because of the dispute over horseshoes. The Kyrgyz had decided to remove them, where as the Kazakh wanted them on.

Here are some pictures from the championship. The player from Naryn (orange) is races off after intercepting the goat carcass from the Talas team (blue).
A player from Talas falls off his horse as he fought for the carcass. He was not hurt as he curled up on the ground.
The Naryn team wins by scoring again.
The goat carcass was 32 kg.