Malanka is a Ukrainian and Belarusian folk holiday that draws on pagan folk tales and marks the new year according to the Julian calendar falls on January 13.
The celebrations stem from a pagan myth about Malanka, a daughter of the Slavic deity Lada, who was once kidnapped by an evil snake and locked up in the underworld before being rescued.
Traditions
According to tradition, a household should have 12 dishes on offer – one for each month of the year.
Pancakes, pies and cheese dumplings are common dishes for the holiday.
Children are handed money as a gift while celebrating the Malanka festival.
In the festivities, traditional costume masks used to celebrate the Malanka festival are placed on a fence in the village and celebrants go from house to house, where the dwellers offer them food.
In some areas, homeowners will burn straw and a didukh – a decoration made from a sheaf of wheat to symbolize the death of everything bad.
One of the most famous rituals is the driving of a man dressed as a goat, symbolizing a dying and resurrecting deity.
