The Uzbek culture and traditions circuit, Bukhara (Day 4 afternoon cont. and evening) - the 10th of September 2013

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The next visit was to the Chor-Minor Madrasah which was located away from the centre and almost hidden in-between the intricate back streets close the Mazar gates of the city. Having been sponsored by a wealthy Turk Caliph it was built in 1807 using an architectural design which strongly differed from the traditional one. 

It is complemented by four small minarets vaulted with blue domes, whose decorations are unrepeatable. Its name stands for four minarets, which then were to symbolise four cities - Termez, Denau, Kounia-Ourguench and Mecca. The fact that each of those has different decorative elements from crosses, Christian fish and Buddhist praying wheels has led many to consider that the main aim was to reflect the existence of four religious streams.

One ladder led to the dome hall on the second and upper floor, which only Nathalie and I decided to walk up to so as to have a closer look to the domes.

Dinner was to be taken at an old Madrasah Caravenserai-like, Nodir Divan Beghi whilst watching a folkloric fashion show and although it sounded interesting I don't think any of us had any idea of what we were to witness throughout the evening.

As the first music accords started being played I stopped eating. The traditional Uzbek music took over me and so did the fashion models who graciously danced in the courtyard. They didn't only dance ... they expressed feelings as if wanting to tell us a story taken from the book of one thousand nights and a night ...  

Because I was sitting with Saudat, Gerard, Danielle, Robert and Josette on the second row and had no direct access to the courtyard where the dancing was going on I had to temporarily kneel down by the table occupied by David, Nathalie, Michelle and Pascal in order to take pictures and film the event, which must have taken almost one hour.

The dances were interspersed by the actual catwalk show but they were so well coordinated that there were no breaks in-between. The music was adapted to the type of dance and clothes display but above all it was traditional, which made a huge difference in the whole scenario sequence. Some of the instruments produced sharp sounds which blended almost perfectly with the soft drumming and string pulling sounds of the sitar -like guitars and the voices of the male singers.

Many of us stayed around after dinner and later walked back to the hotel after having visited the boutique belonging to the fashion stylist who had had her collection presented. We couldn't help talking about the performance we had just watched, which more than anything was once more a praise to the Uzbek culture in various forms.