Hungarians’ tradition on Easter Monday

Ladies, prepare your umbrellas for Easter Monday, as you can expect to get completely soaked. Mind you, this is not because of the weather, but a centuries-long tradition associated with Easter Monday in Hungary.

Central-European heritage

If you are from the Central-European region, you might already know what I am talking about. If not, let me indulge you in the age-old rite of the so-called “húsvéti locsolkodás” (easter sprinkling).

Better known in the English-speaking word as “Śmigus-dyngus” (the Polish translation of the activity) is the tradition of young men going around and sprinkling water (or nowadays mostly cologne) on their female friends, family members, and even willing strangers. It is part of the shared cultural heritage of the Central-Eastern European region and is practiced in all involved countries.

Photo: Hollókő, az élő falu

Pagan or Christian? Both!

The custom has its roots in paganism but was completely and thoroughly adopted by the Christian religion as well. Most widely believed to be a Slavic pagan practice, the sprinkling meant to symbolise purification and renewal. In the Christian doctrine, this was transformed to hint to baptism, which is done in water as well.

Another important part of the tradition is the reward the young man gets from fulfilling his deed. In the original custom, the boys would receive red painted eggs from the girls they poured water on. Originally, this meant to act as a symbol of fertility and birth, of creating life. This also fared well with the Christian thought, as the egg came to represent the rebirth of Christ, with the red paint meant to illustrate the blood he shed for humanity. These eggs are also more often than not decorated with several geometric and floral patterns.

Photo: Hollókő, az élő falu

Evolution of the tradition

As the centuries changed, so did the practices of the custom. With the passing of time, the method of soaking the girls became more and more tame. In the olden days, young dames would dress up in their nicest clothes – and were then thrown into the local lake, river, or the nearby drinking trough. Later, this turned into simply pouring water on them from buckets.

Nowadays, the most common practice is to sprinkle just a bit of cologne on them. In some rural areas, they also tend to use water from soda siphons. The aim of this is so that the lady doesn’t “wither away”. In the beginnings, the boys were looking for those girls to sprinkle who were up for marriage – so those “flowers” who were soaked were seen as desirable, and those who remained dry were considered unwanted.

Photo: Hollókő, az élő falu

Forgotten and different practices

There are two other activities related to the practice which are no longer widespread in Hungary. One is the whipping of the girls by wooden whips, to keep them from catching illnesses throughout the year (this is still a part of the tradition in Slovakia and Czechia).

The other is the so-called reverse sprinkling (visszalocsolás). In the older custom, on the third day of Easter, on Tuesday, the girls got the opportunity to have their revenge. Those who did not like getting soaked could return the favour and pour water on the boys on this day. For reasons unknown, this practice disappeared sometime between the two world wars.

This is the brief history and explanation behind this special regional Easter tradition. If you are a young lady, and you don’t mind getting sprinkled, make sure to stack up on red-painted eggs on this Monday, as you might need them yet!

Read also:

• Funny Hungarian Easter rhymes translated

• How do Hungarians living in the States celebrate Easter?