Introduction

The ancient Abkhaz religion once flourished across Abkhazia before the times of Christianity and Islam. Although many authors continue to consider this traditional religion as pagan, the Abkhazians are well aware of the negative and degrading nature of this term, thus the vast majority of Abkhazians refuse to label themselves as pagans. It is instead listed as the national monotheistic religion of Abkhazia, or faith of Abkhazia. Today, only approximately 5-7% of Abkhazians list themselves as followers of this religion, but nevertheless, the religion still has strong cultural influences on the modern Abkhaz people and state.

Gods and Higher Powers

In the ancient Abkhaz religion, the Abkhazians have one supreme God named Antsua - the creator of life and the creator of the world. “Antsua” is the plural of the Abkhaz word “mother.” There are hundreds of Gods who are much lower than Antsua, who represent and control many different things, however some are more important than others. The most important of the other Gods include Afy, who rules the thunder and the weather, and Ayerg and Azhvepshaa, who are the spirits of the forest, wild animals, and hunting. Anana Gunda is the Goddess of bees and marriages, Aytar is the patron of cattle and all domestic animals. Dzhadzha - the Goddess of fertility; Erysh - the Goddess of weaving; Dzyzlan - Goddess of water, lakes and reservoirs; Dziwou - the Goddess of rain. 

The Abkhaz Gods each have "Apaimbari" - angels, observers, servants and representatives of God on earth that keep track of everything that is done amongst the people, while reporting everything back to the Gods. Each Apaimbari have their own duties, for example; watching the house, fireplace, cattle, the mountains and the sea. In the Abkhaz religion, people create and define their destiny by "Ashachscha" - the Gods of fate (literally - "those who distribute, share"). When a person is born, the Ashachscha divide things such as: who will be happy, and who will live for many years. Some people believe that from time to time, the Ashachscha arrive at the house in the form of three doves, which would then warn the family about a change in fate. The Ashachscha, like the Apaimbari, report everything to God. 

Holy Places

Abkhazia has 7 ancient, holy temples, which together are called “Byzhnyha.” To date, 6 of the 7 sanctuaries have been recovered. “Dydrypsh-nykha,” “Lashkendar-nykha,” “Ldzaa-nykha,” “Lykh-nykha” and “Ulyr-nykha.” The sixth sanctuary “Inal-Kuba” is located in a mountain valley of Pskhu, which is now populated by Russians. As for the name and location of the seventh temple, this is disputed amongst Abkhazians. Some believe that the seventh sanctuary is Pskhu-nykha, however most believe that Inal-Kuba and Pskhu-nykha are the same. Other beliefs about the names of the seventh sanctuary are Lapyr-nykha, Napra-nykha, Gech-nykha and Kapba-nykha. Nykha means holy place. 

Only people of certain priestly Abkhazian surnames should serve as priests of the seven holy temples: Gocha (Ldzaa-nykha,) Harchlaa (Lashkendar-nykha,) Chichba (Dydrypsh-nykha,) Shakra (Lykh-nykha,) and Shinkuba (Ulyr-nykha). Moreover, the priests must have the highest moral character, since, according to the traditional religion of Abkhazians, moral purity and sincerity are absolutely mandatory when dealing with the higher powers.

The most worshiped sanctuary in the Abkhazian religion is Dydrypsh-nykha. This sanctuary is located at the foot of the eponymous mountains near Achandara, in the Gudauta district. It is considered to be the home of the angels.

This article belongs to https://www.discoverabkhazia.org