Fatme
Kichukova has her make-up applied during her wedding ceremony in the
village of Ribnovo, in the Rhodope Mountains on December 11, 2011. The
remote mountain village of Ribnovo in southwest Bulgaria has kept its
traditional winter marriage ceremony alive despite decades of Communist
persecution, followed by poverty that forced many men to seek work
abroad. The wedding ritual was resurrected with vigor among the Pomaks
-- Slavs who converted to Islam under Ottoman rule. The highlight of the
ceremony is the painting of the bride's face, where in a private rite
open only to female in-laws, her face is covered in thick, chalky white
paint and decorated with colorful sequins. Muslims currently make up 10
percent of Bulgaria's 7.4 million population. (Stoyan Nenov/Reuters).
From a group of 37 photos ("Scenes from Bulgaria") at
The Big Picture.
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