Georgia celebrates Palm Sunday

Orthodox Christians around the globe and in Georgia are celebrating an important day in the religious calendar – Palm Sunday – which marks Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

Palm Sunday is a movable feast which is celebrated on the Sunday before Easter.

According to the Gospels, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem and worshipers laid down their cloaks and small branches of trees in front of him, to walk on.

Meanwhile pilgrims celebrating Palm Sunday in Georgia go to church with candles and willow tree branches. The branches are blessed in the churches with holy water as a symbol of welcoming the Lord.

Box-tree branches are blessed in the churches with holy water as a symbol of welcoming the Lord.

Box-tree is one of the symbols of Palm Sunday and is actively cut and sold a week before Easter.

Within the Palm Sunday holiday, the Georgian Orthodox Church and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Georgia urge people to refrain from illegal box-tree cutting, since the Colchian box-tree is an endemic and endangered species.

A few dozen years is needed for the plant to grow, and the species is currently characterized with a declining population. One reason for this is uncontrolled cutting of the plant.

Because of this cutting, extermination or injury of tree branches is punishable by law and criminal responsibility measures are considered as well, which vary according to the level of damage. People found to have illegally cut or damaged box-tree can be fined anywhere from 200-500 GEL, but if the damage exceeds 1,000 GEL, legal proceeding can begin.

Box-tree branches are sold outside Orthodox churches across Georgia; Photo by RFE/RL.

Box-tree can only be purchased from privately owned nurseries or from artificial plantations - according to the plant origin notice issued by the local self-government.

On Palm Sunday people who are fasting are allowed to eat fish, while after this day, they must continue heavy fasting until Easter Sunday.

The period of Lent, or the great fast, began on March 3 and will end on April 19, the first day of the Easter holidays.