Tradition · Nationwide
Hospitality and the dastarkhan
‘A guest ranks above your father’: the seat of honour, a dastarkhan that is never left bare, and table manners from breaking the bread to the closing blessing.
Tradition · Nationwide
Kurash
Uzbekistan’s national wrestling: fought standing only, the aim is to throw the opponent onto his back; an international sport since 1998.
An ancient contest
Kurash is a bout between two wrestlers (polvon) under set rules and Uzbekistan’s national sport. Wrestling of this kind has been known here since antiquity, and the epic Alpamysh describes kurash as the favourite of all contests. For centuries it has been part of weddings, fairs and holidays, Navruz above all.
The rules of modern sport kurash grew out of research begun in 1980 by Komil Yusupov, a master of kurash, judo and sambo, and the International Kurash Association was founded in 1998.
Rules, and where to watch
Wrestlers wear loose trousers and a light jacket with a cloth belt. Bouts are fought standing only, and the aim is to throw the opponent onto his back. Locks, chokes, strikes and grips below the belt are banned, making kurash safe yet fast and dynamic. A nomination file for ‘Uzbek kurash’ is awaiting examination by UNESCO. Watch it at Navruz and other fairs, at village weddings and at official tournaments.
Sources (3)
Tradition · Nationwide
Tea culture and the choyxona
Green tea ‘returned’ to the pot, a bowl filled only halfway, and the choyxona at the heart of every mahalla: the Uzbek day begins and ends with tea.
Tradition · Nationwide
The Uzbek wedding
From matchmaking to the bride’s bow: an Uzbek wedding is not a one-day party but a chain of rites that unites two families.
Tradition · Nationwide
Beshik to‘yi (cradle feast)
The rite in which a first-born baby is laid in its cradle for the first time; the cradle and gifts arrive from the mother’s family to the sound of karnay and surnay.
Tradition · Nationwide
The mahalla
‘A little town within the town’: the neighbourhood community gathered around its guzar, teahouse, mosque and elder — the basic unit of Uzbek life.
Tradition · Nationwide
Hashar
Unpaid communal work by neighbours: once used to dig canals and raise houses, today a clean-up of the mahalla before holidays.
Tradition · Nationwide
Navruz customs
The spring-equinox festival: hashar clean-ups and new clothes, sumalak stirred all night, ko‘k somsa, the ‘Boychechak’ song, kurash and kupkari.
Tradition · Bukhara
Shashmaqom and the maqom tradition
‘Six maqoms’ — a classical suite of instrumental and vocal music that took shape in Bukhara; joint UNESCO heritage of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan since 2008.
Tradition · Surkhandarya, Kashkadarya +2
Bakhshi art
Epic poems sung from memory to the dombra, kobyz or dutar — the performers of Alpamysh and Go‘ro‘g‘li; UNESCO-listed since 2021.
Tradition · Khorezm
Lazgi
Khorezm’s fiery folk melody and dance, evoking the sounds of nature, love and joy; UNESCO-listed since 2019.