On February 16-17, Yazidis around the world celebrated one of the main Yazidi holidays – Aida Khidr Nabi and Khidr Ailas.

On February 17, in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, a festive event was held in the Ezida, Yazidi temple, which was attended by a large number of guests. In honor of the celebration, the Head of the Spiritual Council of Yazidis of Georgia (DSEG) Pir Dima and other representatives of the clergy held a divine service in the temple, at the end of the service, solemn events were held at the cultural center at the temple, where representatives of the Spiritual Council of Yazidis of Georgia told the guests about the history and symbols of this holiday.

The Ezidhan Children's Ensemble demonstrated to the audience Yazidi folk dances and rituals associated with the holiday of Aida Khidr Nabi and Khidr Ailas. At the end of the event, a festive banquet was held consisting of traditional dishes of Yazidi people.

About the holiday

Fast days and Ida Khidr Nabi and Khidr Ailas have a thousand-year history as a holiday of goodness, fulfillment of desires. The date of the holiday is calculated according to the Eastern calendar ("old style") and falls on the first Thursday of the month of Sbat (sibat), i.e., February.

The holiday of Khidr Nabi and Khidr Ailas is preceded by a three-day fast (rojî), which is observed, just like other Yazidi fasts. They get up early in the morning before dawn and after prayer they start eating – which is called pasiv (paşîv). They don't eat or drink anything all day after sunrise, and so on until evening. Before the sun sets, the believer washes his hands and face, prays and then begins to eat – which is called fitar, i.e. talking. These days, dishes are prepared from vegetable products, i.e. wheat, flour, as well as dairy products.

The Legend of Khir Nabi and Khidr Ailas

According to Yazidi legend, Khidr and Ailas lived in the time of Alexander the Great (Iskandar the two-horned), who was predicted to die soon, in order to avoid it, you need to drink "living water", and only Khidr and Ailas could get it. Khidr Nabi, on the instructions of Ailas, goes for "living water" having met many trials on the way. He collects water in a jug and on the way home decided to rest under an olive tree, and hangs a jug of water on a tree branch. And then, while he was sleeping, a crow flew in, sat on a tree and began to knock on the jug with its beak, drinking a drop of water. The jug broke, and the remaining water droplets on its bottom were drunk by Khidr and Ailas, and Iskandar was told that the jug broke on the way.

The image of Khidr and Ailas (Khidr Nabi and Khidr Ailas), Surb Sarkis, Vastarji, George, absorbed the features of various mythological characters of the ancient pre-Christian and pre-Islamic Middle East. The legends of Khidr and Ailas go back to the ancient myth of the search for "living water", which is found in the Sumero-Akkadian epic of Gilgamesh.

*part of the material from yezidi.ge