The inhabitants of Tyrnavos celebrate the “burani” every year to praise the fertility of the land
Traditions in the area of Tyrnavos of Larissa are revived every year with customs during the Halloween period that are preserved unchanged over time. In Tyrnavos, on the day of Clean Monday, the daring traditional custom of “burani” is revived.
It is a Dionysian “custom of the phallus”, which together with the carnival of Tyrnavos attracts visitors from every corner of Greece.
The custom and its roots
The inhabitants of Tyrnavos celebrate the “burani” every year to praise the fertility of the land, nature for the fruits it offers to people.
The “burani” and the carnival events in Tyrnavos can be traced back to 1898, while the Dionysian “custom of the phallus» comes from Cephalonia.
Worship, and especially the litany-circulation of the phallus, as a symbol of fertility, was an integral part of the Dionysian ceremonies to ensure fertility and eugenics.
But what is burani, which gives its name to this orgiastic carnival? It is a traditional food of the region: a vegetable soupwhich is made with the wild greens that start to emerge as winter turns to spring.
The first evidence of the performance of the custom appears in 1898. In any case, the relationship with the Dionysian events is obvious.
The Tyrnavian farmers mainly preserved this custom and preserved it despite the bans it received from time to time. Every year, on Clean Monday, the Buranites arrived at the chapel of the Prophet Elias in a procession, lit a fire and prepared the “burani”, an oiled herbal soup made from the first greens of spring with a little vinegar to flavor them.
This was offered to the “initiates” and drinking wine or a mixture of ouzo or tsipouro with water, dancing and singing, joking and teasing with obscene basic expressions began.
THE “Archiburanite» was elected by those present, adorned his head with a band holding a clay phallus and was the first to start the dance. The rest, with faces smeared with smoke, sang and danced.
In the middle stood the “Kavoukas”, masked wearing a belt of bells and phallic effigies around his waist.
Many of the men who participated held phalluses in their hands, like scepters made of wood or clay or even bread, which were the main ritual symbol.
As Vassilis Tsolas, a member of the Gaitanaki-Bourani Association, explains to APE-MPE, this year’s “burani” on Clean Monday, together with the carnival events in Tyrnavos, are expected to maintain their long-term success, as the interest of the people both in the region and from the rest of Greece is great.
It is noted that satirical acts based on improvisation are presented by carnival groups on Saturday, while the highlight of the events is the grand parade on Sunday evening.
This year, according to the program of the municipality of Tyrnavos, the uniquely inspired floats and the protagonists of the evening, the carnival-goers will flood the streets of the city and “the king of the carnival, the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu will burn and symbolically with him will also burn the war, thus sending the Turnavitiko Carnival a resounding anti-war message”.
Source: Skai
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