Nigina Amonkulova (Tajik folk music singer)

   Nigina Amonqulova (also spelled Neginah Amonqulova/amonkulova, Tajik: Нигина Амонқулова,Persian: نگینه امانقلوا‎‎ born in January 30, 1986) is a Tajik folk music singer.

Nigina Amonqulova was born in Panjakent, a city in Western Tajikistan. In her childhood, she wanted to be a doctor, but after she had successfully performed a song at a school-leaving party she chose the career of a singer. She took part in a music festival in Dushanbe and won the first prize.

Then Nigina moved to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, and began to perform Tajik traditional folk songs. Soon she became famous throughout the country, mainly due to her non-pop style of singing. Many Tajik folk songs were revived by Nigina and reportedly they gained an even greater popularity in Tajikistan than they used to have. Nigina performs her songs with a soft voice, what feels like love of a very close person, like mother voice. Nigina wears bright Tajik national costumes, which resembles the authenticity of her performances .

One of the popular songs of Nigina Amonkulova

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Iskanderkul (Lake)

Iskanderkul is a mountain lake of glacial origin in Tajikistan's Sughd Province. It lies at an altitude of 2,195 metres (7,201 ft) on the northern slopes of the Gissar Range in the Fann Mountains. Triangular in shape, it has a surface area of 3.4 square kilometres (1.3 sq mi) and is up to 72 metres (236 ft) deep. Claimed to be one of the most beautiful mountain lakes in the former Soviet Union, it is a popular tourist destination.

It was formed by the congestion of the Saratogh river. It is 134 km from Dushanbe and 23 km from the Dushanbe—Khujand road.

The lake takes its name from Alexander the Great: Iskander is the Persian pronunciation of Alexander, and kul is lake inTajik.

The outflow of the lake is the Iskander Darya, which joins the Yaghnob River to form the Fan Darya, a major left tributary of the Zeravshan River.

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Suzani (textile)

Bukhara suzani with pomegranate design.

Suzani is a type of embroidered and decorative tribal textile made in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and other Central Asiancountries. Suzani is from the Persian سوزن Suzan which means needle. The art of making such textiles in Iran is called سوزن‌دوزیSuzandozi (needlework).

Suzanis usually have a cotton (sometimes silk) fabric base, which is embroidered in silk or cotton thread. Chain, satin, and buttonhole stitches are the primary stitches used. There is also extensive use of couching, in which decorative thread laid on the fabric as a raised line is stitched in place with a second thread. Suzanis are often made in two or more pieces, that are then stitched together

Popular design motifs include sun and moon disks, flowers (especially tulips, carnations, and irises), leaves and vines, fruits (especiallypomegranates), and occasional fish and birds.

The oldest surviving suzanis are from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but it seems likely that they were in use long before that. In the early 15th century, Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo, the Castilian ambassador to the court of Timur (Tamerlane), left detailed descriptions of embroideries that were probably forerunners of the suzani. 

Suzanis were traditionally made by Central Asian brides as part of their dowry, and were presented to the groom on the wedding day.These hand-embroidered vintage suzanis are infused with the character that only comes from everyday use. Perhaps created by a bride-to-be to show her devotion to her betrothed and then in lean times bartered away to a traveling Gypsy for money or household necessities pulled from the depths of his donkey cart. The story of each of these suzanis is as rich as their colors, as intricate as the designs that cover their surfaces.

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Atlas-popular Tajik material

Atlas – more than Chakan young and too fashionable material for sewing dresses for girls in Tajikistan. The Atlas of the bride and groom dress up the girl and almost all women except for the elderly in the holidays.

Atlas Price ranges from 15 to 200 US dollars for one dress. Atlas appeared in Tajikistan in Soviet times and has gained popularity since 1970-1980 years.To sew a satin require from 1 to 5 days and satin material compared Chakan less strong and therefore protect it from dirt. Atlas is a silky material and it is distinguished by its vividly colorful beauty that is peculiar to the liking of Tajik girls.

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Chackan - traditional dress of Tajik women

Female decorated dress of Chakan is one kind of Tajik people's embroidery chain stitches seamstresses'. As a matter of fact Tajik dressmakers stitch this sort of female decorated dress on the white colored silk with specific red, green and yellow paints. The word "Chakan" is dated back to ancient centuries. At first, pictures of floral ornaments, different designs of flowers, leaves, Sun, Moon and Stars were engraved on wood, iron ore, leather, invaluable stones and earthenware dishes since ancient days. Even you can meet the "Chakan" terms in the Slavonic language with the structure of "chekanka and chekanit", which means to design the floral ornaments on wood and cloth. 
In the old days the stitching of chakan was used from karabos, "the handicraft cotton cloth". During architectural research, the body of a seven years old girl was discovered from a grave in the Southern part of Tajikistan, where she had on a chakan dress with pictures of Lifetree, and branches in pair with two nightingales in the 70 years of last century.

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Chayhana Rohat

     Chayhana Rohat is constructed in the time of Soviet Union in 1958. The hand of great Tajik masters is seen in construction of this chayhana, used the forces and knowledge in a national art version - Chayhana consists of two floors and simultaneously can serve upto 80 persons.

It is necessary to note that chayhana «Rohat» is on prospectus Rudaki and is one of a favourite corner of inhabitants of Dushanbe.

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Pamiri Girl

Pamiri Girl from Yazgulom, Tajikisthan. Pamiri is the name of an Indo-Iranian group in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province of Tajikistan and Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan. The Pamiris are composed of people who speak the Pamiri languages, the indigenous language in the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous province, and adhere to the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam.

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