KHACHATUR ABOVYAN ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Celebrations of the Feast of the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ or the Easter Feast, one of the five major feasts of the Armenian Apostolic Church, began at the Pedagogical University with the faithful announcing the joyful tidings: “Christ is risen from the dead” and receiving the answer: “Blessed is the Resurrection of Christ.”

In connection with the Eater holiday, the Student Council of the Faculty of Educational Psychology and Sociology organized a competition of Eater table decorations and settings. The freshmen of the Faculty decorated the tradition Easter tables with elements specific to their profession.

Fish, dyed eggs, rice with raisins, wine, different types of edible greens, gata - Armenian traditional pastry made in tonir (underground clay oven) and many other dishes: the tables were full of diverse dishes and beautiful decorations.  

Future pedagogue-psychologist Sona Hayrapetyan said Easter is one of her beloved holidays and the students prepared for it very carefully. 

The table laid by future social educators combined traditional dishes with modern elements. Angelina Gabrielyan underlined that the juxtaposition of these two elements helped them have a beautiful festive table. 

Mariam Yevdokimova, a first-year-student of the Faculty majoring in Sociology, said unlike other tables, purple and red were dominant colours on their table, and the smiles painted on the eggs made the festive tables unique and more joyful.

Future social worker Mila Khachatryan was also excited. She says the famous Olympic credo ‘The most important thing is not winning but taking part’ is characteristic of their team.

Military psychologist Gayane Nazaryan said the Easter tables were different and original, each in its own way, and their table decorated with military elements was their trump card. 

The competition was attended by Ruzanna Petrosyan, Dean of the Faculty and Chairperson of the Committee, Deputy Deans and Heads of Departments. 

As a result of their joint decision, military psychologists were named winners of the competition. “It is highly important that we understand the meaning of Easter and observe its traditions,” Ruzanna Petrosyan said adding that all tables were beautiful and unique, but the most important was the students’ enthusiasm. 

A similar competition was held at the Faculty of Art Education. The jury featured Dean of the Faculty Sargis Elbakyan, Heads of Departments, Chairman of the ASPU Student Council Nersik Margaryan, Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Faculty’s Student Council.

The students also presented the meaning and significance of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and introduced national traditions and games connected with Easter, specifically the game of banging hard-boiled eggs against opponent’s egg to see whose egg breaks first. They did everything possible to celebrate the holiday in the best possible way and decorate tables in accordance with the token of the feast.