Bulgarians celebrate the feast of Epiphany with a ritual plunge into icy rivers Thousands of Orthodox Christian worshippers in Bulgaria on Monday braved the freezing winter weather to plunge into icy waters as they observed centuries-old Epiphany traditions.
In the tiny city of Elin Pelin, situated in a rural area east of the capital, Sofia, dozens of men jumped into the wintry waters of the Lesnovska River to catch the blessed cross.
The peak of the celebrations was the slow “mazhko horo”, or men’s dance, performed by men dressed in traditional white embroidered shirts who waded into the river singing folk songs and waving national flags.
Young men plunged into rivers and lakes across the Balkan country, which is primarily Orthodox, to retrieve crucifixes tossed by priests in ceremonies commemorating the baptism of Jesus Christ.
Senior clergymen of Bulgaria’s Orthodox church said prayers for the prosperity of the people and blessed the colors of representative army units in a tradition that was abandoned in 1946 but re-established following the fall of communism in 1992.
