A celebration of love and fertility

• 2019-07-28

Armenia is celebrating Vardavar, a pagan holiday that Armenians feast up to this day. The Armenian Church has included this pagan feast into Christian holidays, in order not to lose the important customs and traditions of the holiday. On that day, the Church celebrates the transfiguration of Jesus Christ. Vardavar is celebrated 98 days, or 14 weeks, after Easter. The etymology of the word “Vardavar” stems from “vard” meaning “rose” in Armenian. The explanations for the rose connection to this pagan festival are quite varied. According to the Armenian Church, to mimic Astghik’s (goddess of water, beauty, love and fertility) bathing, people sprinkle each other with rose water and hold a special festival of roses. Nowadays, the roses are not used, but the name of the festival is still "Vardavar".​