GYPSY EASTER

The paper highlights certain issues in the history and culture of the Roma people (Gypsies) that are part of a multinational population of the Kama River area. Currently, members of three Roma groups inhabit the region: the Russian, the Crimean, and the Moldavian (Caldarari) Roma. The latter are Orthodox Christians and maintain traditional social institutions and rites. Their folk calendar is based on religious holidays, one of them being Easter – Patradi. The Caldarari Roma believe that the good wishes they exchange during Easter house-to-house visits enhance the wealth of the community. Holidays are an important mechanism of self-organization and self-preservation of this ethnic group.