KUALA

KUALA are ancestral and family sanctuar ies of Udmurts, where people worshiped the clan’s protectors – voshshud spirits. They look like small wooden buildings with earth floor, without ceiling and windows and with a 2­pitched roof. There is an open stone hearth with a cauldron hung above it or installed on the stones in the middle of the building to cook ceremonial porridge. There was a shelf for the object representing the clan’s protectors (e.g. tues jug with oil and honey) opposite from the entrance wall. Wooden branches: birch in summer and spruce or fir in winter could also be there. There  were 3 main prayers a year held in K: dedicated to the Great day, summer and winter prayers – entering K as well as at the family celebrations. The priest of K. – K. keeper. – uttered special prayers to approach the spirits­-protectors of the clan.

R.R. Sadikov