The Legend of the Rose Festival Vardavar One day the gods of darkness found out from the Supreme Vis
The Legend of the Rose Festival Vardavar One day the gods of darkness found out from the Supreme Vishap* that the power of the Armenian people lies in Vahagn* and the source of his power is the love of goddess Astghik*. They immediately set off to steal the beautiful Astghik. For a long time, they followed the goddess of love everywhere and then one day they finally attacked her and dragged her into the underworld. At that moment the faces of people grew gloomy, their eyes darkened, and they were seized by horror and frenzy. Their hearts were filled with hatred for each other, for songs, for laughter, and for Ararat and its sun. Wives left their husbands; brother raised his sword against brother. Even Vahagn could not find the stolen goddess of love – the moans, cries, and tears of the unfortunate people drowned Astghik’s calls for help. “How can I hear the voice of love in this noise of hatred and grief?” asked Vahagn of his mother Anahit. “Find a child who has not experienced sin and has not lost the thirst for life,” answered Anahit. “He will hear the voice of Astghik.” After a while, Vahagn found a poor family with a baby who happily smiled at him and then ran down the trail to the rock behind which Astghik had been kept captive. Vahagn split the rock and the goddess of love was freed from her prison. When she saw Ararat, she did not recognize it: there were spines, thorns, and snakes everywhere. Astghik wept. And everywhere her tears fell, beautiful roses grew and their fragrance reached far and wide. Astghik handed out flowers to the people and then smiles of love bloomed all around Ararat. Thus began the celebration of Vardavar, the festival of roses. Flowers and trees returned to life and birds came back to Armenia; girls wanted to marry again, and mothers rejoiced at their children. Since that time, Vardavar has been celebrated with songs, dances and games. And on that day lovers give each other roses. Source: 100 Legends of Ararat -- source link