Published since 07.2002
Published on July 18, 2008
FANCY FOR FLIGHT: PIGEON KEEPING IS A HOBBY FOR MANY, A BUSINESS FOR SOME
- Pigeon keeping is a popular hobby in Armenia, part of modern Armenia’s portrait. One can meet the birds on every second or third street in districts outside city centers. An attentive eye might catch the picture of cages with a pigeon or two in the attics or the balconies of the buildings even in the city center. The rite of letting out pigeons during the traditional Armenian wedding ceremony in church is a must as it promises the newly weds a happy and peaceful future. There is a wide-spread opinion releasing a pigeon in the church yard promises realization of dreams. One can do that for a dollar or two in the yards of almost all the churches [in Armenia], “renting” pigeons that return after awhile to do it all over again. In Echmiadzin, the location of the Holy See (and a very popular site for wedding ceremonies) pigeon keeping is especially popular. About 500 pigeon keepers – as the people say gushbaz – are known in the town. They know each other and in case of necessity they exchange species. “When one gets a new model of car, another one wants it too. It’s the same with the pigeons,” says Arzuman Arzumanyan, a well-known pigeon keeper in Echmiadzin. Arzumanyan is a 60-year-old lively and quick man who this year managed to build 15 new cages, providing more comfortable conditions for the birds. “I have inherited the love for it. My grandfather used to keep pigeons in the yard we lived in, so do I. I can’t live without my pigeons. I talk to them,” says Arzumanyan, adding that there’s more expense that profit in the hobby. “It’s just a lifestyle for me. I get 10 tons of wheat every year for my pigeon.” ($3,000 per year) Arzumanyan has more than 1,500 pigeons. His friends say even if one of his family members stays hungry or children be late for school his pigeons will get their food in time. The prices for pigeons in Armenia range from 500 to 100,000 drams. ($1.60-$330) depending on the sort, the look and flight style. “People look at pigeons like they do at girls, their appearance,” Arzumanyan explains. Pigeons that have special coloring are of higher esteem, like in cases when one of the wings of the white pigeon is black or when a black pigeon has a white wing. But price is not an obstacle for zealous pigeon keepers. “I have pigeons 20 years of age in my yard; I am very much attached to them. How can I sell them? I won’t even if they pay me $1,000,” says Arzumanyan. There is a pigeon market in Zeytun community in Yerevan. All the pigeon lovers buy and sell birds there. “Some have aquariums at home, others keep dogs or cats, and we love pigeons,” Larisa Martirosyan, director of the Central Library of Echmiadzin says. Her family has a selection of rare species of pigeons. The tradition of pigeon-breeding is widely spread in the world. “Before the 20th century keeping pigeons in Armenia meant belonging to aristocracy,” says Martirosyan. Pigeon is a symbol of peace. This idea came from the Bible, where the pigeon brings good news on the end of the flood: “…and the pigeon came in to him at evidence; and, Io, in her mouth an olive-leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.” (Genesis 8:11) “In the past on Vartavar people used to release pigeons besides watering each other as a symbol of purity,” Father Mkrtich Mushadyan of the Holy Mariam Astvatsatsin Church in Echmiadzin explains. Arzumanyan is worried for just one thing: “All of my 35 family members are indifferent to this business. I don’t know who will own the pigeons after my death. I will make a will regarding my pigeons,” Arzumanyan says with a sad smile.
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Today in Armenian history- 1894 Birth of Vahan Totovents (writer). He was murdered by the Soviet Secret Police in 1937.
- 1914 The Central Committees of Taron and Sassoon present the reform program to three embassies in Constantinople.
- 1938 Birth of Perch Zeytuntsyan (playwright) in Cairo (Egypt).
- 1988 The USSR Supreme Soviet, relies on Article 78 of the Soviet Constitution (prohibition of any territorial changes to a Union Republic without its consent) to deny the 1988 02 20 petition by the Autonomous Region of Nagorno Gharabagh to rejoin Armenia.
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