For centuries, flowers have had sacred significance. In Kazakh applied arts they are popular as patterns: they decorate clothes and headdresses, as well as embroidered carpets – tuskiiz. The flower is associated with the ideas of fertility, eternal renewal, revival of life and abundance.
The qyzğaldaq occupies a special place among Kazakh “flower” patterns. The tulip is a native steppe flower and one of the first spring flowers, symbolising rebirth, the arrival of spring and youth.
The tulip is often found in the decorative art of Turkic peoples, on Turkish ceramic tiles, in the art of the Near and Middle East and Iran. The tulip was a special symbol of the ruling dynasty of the Ottoman Empire, and the famous Turkic Sufi and poet Kh. A. Yassawi called the tulip “the righteous flower”.
Another popular motif of Kazakh knotted carpets is the “raihangül” (rose) pattern. Although the rose is not a typical steppe plant in Kazakhstan, it nevertheless received its symbolic meaning. The ideas of human soul, holiness and mercy are associated with it. Most likely, the pattern “raihangül” was integrated into Kazakh culture in connection with the spread of Sufism.
Rose as a symbol in the world culture constantly manifests itself in different cultures and receives different meanings depending on the context of this or that tradition, maintaining its place as the queen of flowers.
