Oh, Mordovia! I am love with you «Mordovian (moksha) national costume» (оn the example of the costume of the village of Mord- Polyana Zubovo - Polyansky district)

Автор: Елисеева Ирина Геннадьевна

Организация: ГБПОУ РМ ''Зубово-Полянский педагогический колледж''

Населенный пункт: п. Зубова Поляна

«Mordovian (moksha) national costume»

If we want to talk about folk costume, we should turn to the costume of the peasants. Moksha national costume was formed in ancient times and was passed from mother to daughter for lots of generations.

The whole life of any Mordovian person was attached to all kind of rituals. And costume played a huge role. It was especially great in festive rituals.

 

It is impossible to imagine Mordovian costumes without all kinds of different jewelry. There are a lot of them! These are sulgams, bead necklace, copper and silver bracelets, rings; earrings, which is made of metal, jay feathers; ducks`, geese`s feathers. And that's why Russian neighbors used to say about the ancient Mordovian costume with ringing and noisy necklaces: "You'll hear a Mordovian first, and then you'll see"

 

And now let`s consider the Moksha women's costume.

The main part of the women's costume is a shirt (panar) tunic-like cut without collar. A Moksha shirt is sewed from a single piece of cloth folded in half. Short panels with an armhole for long straight sleeves were sewn to it from the sides. The neckline on the chest is oval in shape. There are 10-12-centimeters incision for a comfortable walking. The mokshanka's shirt was tied with a belt and reached to the knees.

The women's shirt was worn with a belt (moksh.,. kars), on which paired pendants were fixed (moksh. karks seconyat, sect, cect).

The part of tradition costume was an apron (saponya). It was worn on both every day and holidays. The aprons were decorated with embroidery, stripes of colored cloth, ribbons, lace.

Hats played a special role in the national costume. Like other peoples, Moksa had different headdresses for girls and young women. For girls, the most common type of headdress was a headband, which is covered with fabric and decorated with embroidery, beads, braid (ashcorks). The headdresses of married women were supposed to completely hide their hair.

There are several types of them. For example, Moksha wore soft trapezoidal caps — panga.

The traditional female costume of the Mordvins is characterized by numerous decorations. Various pendants made of coins, beads, shells and down were worn as temporal pendants of the muzzle, which were attached to the headdress

A specific decoration of the muzzles was a breast clasp (sulgam)

Bead decoration: bayarini beads (bayaravan krgane)

The breast ornaments were varied. They are represented by a variety of beads (krganyat), necklaces (pad,).

The waist ornaments of the mokshankas were a variety of pendants. They were worn in pairs. The basis of the pendants was a metal frame made of several rows of copper wire; or a narrow-braided belt. Bells, tokens, and shells were attached to them, and there was usually a fringe of silk threads at the ends.

The traditional shoes of the Mordvins were bast shoes (bast shoes) made of linden or elm bark.

The festive type of shoes were leather boots with collars and pointed socks (kemot ).

 

There are a lot of elements of Mordovian ornament, Mordovian embroidery.

The Mordovian patterns used to decorate clothes. Let's look at the main elements of the embroidery ornament.

1) A square or more often a rhombus is the main element of the embroidery ornament. It is a universal symbol that has several meanings, and the most important of them is abundance, fertility.

2) Zigzag. It can be considered a symbol of water. Since ancient times, man has revered water sources: springs, rivers, lakes, seas. Myths are widespread among many peoples of the world that everything in the world came from water, which is the primary basis of all things. In Mordovian myths, water is also the primary element of the universe, it corresponds to the beginning of the world.

3) An eight-pointed star. It symbolized the sun. In the myths and rituals of the Mordovian people, the remnants of the former religious perception of fire are clearly visible, i.e. the attitude towards it as something supernatural, which in a special way affects human life. In ancient times, people considered the flame to be a product of the heavenly body, probably due to the fact that they first learned to use the "heavenly" fire, which arose as a result of a lightning strike Besides, there was a lot in common between the flames of the campfire and the sun. They had a beneficial effect (warmed, illuminated), but they could also burn, burn houses, crops, and lightning (a product of heavenly fire) could kill a person or an animal.

3) Horn-shaped patterns. They symbolized trees and grass. In the spells and prayers of the Mordvins, the deities of the tree Chuvton-ava and Chuvton-paz were often mentioned, they meant the patrons of a living tree. The healers turned to them when healing the sick. Most likely, such ideas arose on the basis of the primary deification of the trees themselves, which in many peoples served as symbols of fertility, health and wealth. In the mythology of Mordovia, such reverence for trees was expressed in the image of the so-called world tree or tree of life, which is an apple tree, oak or birch. It is described as the largest tree in the forest, distinguished by its height, thickness, branchiness and splendor.

5) S-shaped shapes. They symbolized waterfowl and horse heads. (Slide 36) (Slide 37) You already know that Mordovian patterns were mainly decorated with clothes. And the patterns in this case served as amulets. The pagan Mordvins had many gods: the gods of fire – Tol-ava and Tol-atia, the goddess of the sun Chiava or Shiava, the gods of water - After-ava and After-atia, the keeper of the forest - Vir-ava, the keeper of the field - Paks-ava, the giver of harvest - Norov-ava and many others. Decorating their clothes with patterns symbolizing fire, sun, water, plants, fertility, people asked for protection from their gods.

The colors in Mordovian patterns also have a symbolic meaning.

1) White color. It symbolizes goodness, life, purity, holiness, restraint, innocence.

2) Red color. It was one of the most common colour among Mordvins. It had many symbolic meanings, denoting love, beauty, strength, courage, emotionality, health, warmth, victory.

3) Black color. His meaning was negative or neutral.

4) Green color. This color was closely connected with the surrounding world of nature, therefore it showed youth, immaturity.

5) Yellow color. It symbolized maturity, usefulness, and value.

 

Practical work

Now I would like you to complete this interesting project.

1. Let`s answer the questions

• What symbols and ornaments are characteristic of the Moksha costume?
  • What do they mean and what role do they play in the cultural tradition of the people?
  • How did the details of the costume (cut, color, jewelry) show social status and marital status?
  • How is the Moksha costume represented in modern society?
  • How do people use it in everyday life, on holidays and festivals?
  • What factors helps to keep the traditions of Moksha costumes?

 

2. I suggest you create your own costume using national elements or find some good ideas from internet and discuss about it with your class.

 

Полный текст статьи см. в приложении.

Опубликовано: 06.12.2025