Cultura

The Uzbek people has an interesting rich cultural heritage from the merging of centuries old and modern civilizations. Places such as Khorezm, Chach, Sogd, Usturshan, Margian are considered to be historical. Although most of the Uzbeks are Moslems, their attitudes toward the various religions like Buddhism, Christianity and Judaism are that of respect. At present, Islam is considered to be the religious faith of the Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Turkmen, Tadjiks. The Islam religion was introduced after the Arabic Conquest, it was introduced earlier during the early periods of the medieval state due to the relationship with Sabanid Iran. Prior to the Islamic period, the Uzbeks actually worshipped and kept natural objects like spring waters, caves, stones, trees and fire as deities. And it is from these elements that are depicted in the National folk ornaments.The best tradition of Uzbekistan is its hospitality. Everyone, irregardless of position is always treated as if he was sent by God. Even the poor are always trying to supply travellers with whatever they can offer and their only demand as payment for their hospitality is that the traveller relates his stories to them. Curiosity is another feature of the Uzbeks. They like to communicate with others and interact between themselves. They like meeting people and hope that by treating their guests warmly the gesture will be reciprocated. Another common pastime of the Uzbeks, they like to spend their leisure time in tea-houses and bazaars.The Bazaar is a place of communication apart from its primary sense of buying and selling.And it is here you'll see Uzbeks from all walks of life either trying to sell their wares or just entertaining. Wares like embroidery work, national wardrobe, knives, ceramics, the traditional summer cloth and wooden carvings are some of the things you can find at the Bazaar. And it also here you get your best bargains and souvenirs. Their holidays are spent on enjoying dances, singing, holding horse contests and watching the national wrestling-Kurash and dining on their local dishes like the plov, shashlyk, samsa are Uzbekistan's national favourite dishes. The Uzbek cuisine favourite topic is bread. According to the national ancient tradition, bread is something holy to the Uzbek people. Anyone who find a piece of bread that is unfortunately left on the ground, should take it up and kiss it before attaching it to the forehead three times and leave it there for a while. Traditional Uzbek bread is baked in special stoves made of clay. What has made Uzbekistan into a great place lies in its powerful presence of the historical past that is deeply ingrained in the culture, heritage and beliefs of the Uzbek people.