Malkh was a festival dedicated to the sun goddess Deela-Malkh in

Vainakh mythology The Nakh peoples, also known as ''Vainakh peoples'' (Chechen/Ingush: , apparently derived from Chechen , Ingush "our people"; also Chechen-Ingush), are a group of Caucasian peoples identified by their use of the Nakh languages and other cult ...

. 25 December was the birthday and the festival of the Sun. During the ceremonies suppliants turned to the east. Also in Nakh architecture temples and house façades were directed to the

east East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

. Nakh people believed that the Sun went to visit her mother, Aza at the summer and winter

solstice A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countr ...

s. The journey took her six months to complete. Nakh people used the

fylfot The fylfot or fylfot cross ( ) and its mirror image, the gammadion are a type of swastika associated with medieval Anglo-Saxon culture. It is a cross with perpendicular extensions, usually at 90° or close angles, radiating in the same direc ...

as symbol of Deela-Malkh on their buildings and tomb-stones.

References

Nakh peoples Nakh culture Islamic festivals December observances {{Europe-myth-stub

See also

References