Mör Vös: Joint Prayer Ceremony (2019)

An Ethnographic film about the traditional sacrificial rite of the Udmurts in Bashkortostan at village group level.
In the 17th-18th century, the Udmurts, to escape Christianization and social pressure moved massively eastwards from the Kama River. They found refuge among the Bashkirs who were moslem and allowed them to follow the ways of their ancestors. Soviet anti-religious campaigns failed to root out the Udmurts' religious traditions although in some villages public prayers were cancelled for a while. Today amidst the Eastern Udmurts the traditional Udmurt faith is reborn, in almost all villages prayer ceremonies are carried out. The main aim of the ceremonies is to guarantee the favour of the gods, to pray for the health of people and domestic animals, for future crops, for world peace etc.
One week after prayer ceremonies were carried out in all villages the people of villages located on the right bank of the River Yug come together in the Vilgurt village for a joint prayer ceremony. In 2013, the Vilgurt mör vös was conducted by Rais Rafikov. Young sacrificial priest Fridman Kabipyanov organized the collecting of ingredients for making ritual porridge in the Balzyuga village.