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The Christmas' Eve (night
from 6 to 7 January). Usually at Christmas Eve people have to abstain from
eating from morning till late evening, till the first
star will appear. When the star appears, people lay the table with dishes -
Saint Christmas Supper. Kutya, vsvar (both are special hot drinks) and roasted
goose must be on the table. Like in other Christian countries in Russia there
used to be a custom of people visiting the neighbourhood and singing songs
(like Christmas carols). Here this custom was called after pagan god Koliada,
so the food the singers were given was also called "koliada" (a kind
of gift) and the process itself was called "kaliadovat".
During the Soviet era
people did not celebrate Christmas but now the customs of celebrating the
holiday are returning. The problem is that celebrating Christmas
was not allowed for more than 70 years and due to the policy of the government
people here did not observe religious holidays. Only in faraway villages people who were religious kept to the custom.
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