World famous Russian baths or banyas are in part Finnish sauna, part Roman/Turkish bath part Rus. These famous baths are going strong all over the Rus. They were accepted by the Soviet as a necessity of cultural impact as well as a health promoter rather than a decadent luxury of the rich.
Medieval Europe had its bath house fairies, Finland's sauna was the home for elves, the North American Fox lndians had Manitou in their sweat lodges, and the Russians banya was the haunt of the Bannik. The Rus banya is named for the old Slavic-pagan God of the Bath, Bannik. He was a spirit-god who oversaw the waters (streams, lakes, rivers, springs wells) and thus also the bath.
Unlike other sweat-house spirits, the Russian Bannik had a mischievous streak and rarely did anyone good. Bannik was described by rare witnesses as an old man with hairy paws and long nails. He lived behind the stove or under the benches and revealed himself only when he was unhappy with the bath or if someone had been disrespectful. Often it was the newcomer who received his wrath. If Bannik became angry, watch out! Bathers were known to have lost their skin and had their bodies wrapped around the stove for loud singing, talking or swearing in the bath-or simply for being a stranger. You were wise not to lie or boast, and certainly not to have sexual intercourse in the bath! Red hot rocks and boiling water have also been known to be thrown by a displeased Bannik. To protect yourself from the Bannik, etiquette required making the sign of the cross before entering the bania, wishing your comrades a good bath and, when leaving, wishing the Bannik a hearty goodbye. Since the Bannik liked a clean room and bathed at least once a week, cleaning and heating the bania were duties that could not be neglected. The Bannik could control the quality of steam and could transform harmless steam into deadly coal gas if he wasn't satisfied.
The 3rd or 4th round of bathing was always reserved for the Bannik who liked to bathe alone in the dark. Soap, lye, and birch twigs were left behind for him. And a little extra because the Bannik sometimes invited his forest friends to join him-sometimes the Devil himself. You knew when the Bannik had his friends in by the purring noise of their conversation. This was never a time to enter a bania alone. However, if you were curious and wanted to see the bania spirit, you had to go alone. You would step in with one leg and at the same time take your cross off your neck and put it under the heel of your left foot which symbolized your denial of God. The Bannik might then reveal himself. From time to time, Bannik expected a sacrifice. After an old bania had been burned down and before a new one could be erected, a black chicken had to be choked and buried under the building site. Then, to assuage the rascal, salt was thrown over the stove during the first heating of the bania. The banya also housed benevolent supernatural forces. Witches and sorcerers gathered in the banya to estahlish a link with these superior powers and here, surrounded by the magic forces of the banya, evil could be extracted from the body and the future prophesized. The magical attributes of the sweat bath were the reason that the critical stages of a Russian's life birth, adulthood, marriage, and death-were conducted in the banya. The moment a person moved from the known to the unknown, they were vulnerable to evil forces that could enter and consume the Russian soul. With proper ritual, the banya's powers could be summoned to protect the Russian during life's crucial transitions.
No other form of bath is as well documeneted as the Rus banya. Finnish sauna information is paltry by comparison. Early Russian chronicles commonly mention the banya, and when European journalists swarmed to Russia in the centuries following the Reformation, the Russian banya made exciting material to write home about. Russians became reknowned for their enthusiastic bathing. In 1914, M. Hartea told the Finnish Museum Society, "In Moscow the interest in banya is greater than here in Finland. The Russians conquer us Finns as far as interest in the sauna goes." lf the history of the early 1900's had been different and Russian folklore had not been cloaked in secrecy behind the Iron Curtain, the banya might have become a household word in America instead of the Finnish sauna.
Parallel development of the sauna and the banya applies solely to the northwest Rus. In the southwest part of the Rus the baths are fashioned after the Islamic and Greco-Roman models. Hypocaust heating could be found as far north as Kuybyshev on the Volga River. In the nomadic tribes of central and eastern Siberia, portable sweat baths exactly like the sweat lodges of the North American Indians are still used today as in ancient times. Sweat bathing is so popular in the Rus that even in areas where material shortages existed during the Soviet, as in the barren areas of Siberia, sweat baths were built from turf or clay. Some are dug into cliffs and given only a veneer of wood. These are called "laznva." The word derives form the word for entering a bath house of this type, "lazit" meaning to crawl or creep. In these primitive sweat baths there is only a dirt floor covered with hay or straw. The "black" banya of the northwest is the Russian equivalent to the Finnish savusauna, while the "white" banya refers to concrete baths in the cities. Because of the white banya, the Russian bath is often thought of as a steam bath. Low temperatures and high water concentration create steam, while high temperatures with the same water concentration will not produce visible steam. Because white banyas were so heavily used by the urban Russians, it was nearly impossible to maintain a high temperature. As a result, steam filled the hot room. Travelers to Russia brought back word of these "steamy" Russian baths.
One of the earliest descriptions of the bania comes from the Russian Primary Chronicle of 1113, in describing the missionary work of the apostle, Andreas: He descended from the hill on which Kiev was subsequently built, and continued his journey up the Dnieper. He then reached the Slavs at the point where Novgorod is now situated. He saw these people existing according to their customs, and, on observing how they bathed and drenched themselves, he wondered at them. He went then among the Varangians and came to Rome, where he recounted what he had learned and observed. "Wondrous to relate," he said, ""l saw the land of the Slavs, and while I was among them, I noticed their wooden bath-houses. They warm them to extreme heat, then undress, and after annointing themselves with tallow, take young reeds and lash their bodies. They actually lash themselves so violently that they barely escape alive. Then they drench themselves with cold water, and thus are revived. They think nothing of doing this every day and actually inflict such voluntary torture upon themselves. They make of the act not a mere washing but a veritable torment." Yet another mention of the banya is found in the same Chronicle, it is the story of Princess Olga's revenge for the murder of her husband, Prince Igor, by the Slavic tribe of Drevlians in 945 AD. The leader of the Drevlians had hopes of marrying the widow Olga and sent messengers to discuss the idea. "When the Drevlians arrived Olga commanded that a bath should be made ready for them, and said: 'Wash yourselves and come to me.' The bath-house was heated and the unsuspecting Drevlians entered and began to wash themselves, after which Olga's men closed the bath-house behind them and she gave orders to set it on fire from the doors, so that the Drevlians were all burned to death."
In a 906 AD treaty between Russia and Greece, the Russians stipulated that their merchants trading in Constantinople were not given only "bread, wine, meat, fish and fruit, but also the opportunity to bathe as often as they wished." Although the baths in Constantinople were not like the banya, they would suffice in a foreign land.
The banya also housed benevolent supernatural forces. Witches and sorcerers gathered in the banya to establish a link with these superior powers and here, surrounded by the magic forces of the banya, evil could be extracted from the body and the future was foretold. The magical attributes of the sweat bath were the reason that the critical stages of a Russian's life-birth, adulthood, marriage, and death-were conducted in the banya. The moment a person moved from the known to the unknown, they were vulnerable to evil forces that could enter and consume the Russian soul. With proper ritual, the banya's powers could be summoned to protect the Russian during life's crucial transitions.
Birthing Banya
The banya was ideal for a Rus woman giving birth-if the Bannik did not interfere. The midwife's job was not only to assist with the birth, but also to keep the Bannik from interfering. One ruse was to dip 4 stones from the oven in water and throw them into a corner while muttering, "Into the corner with you stones! And smack the Devil in the forehead!" If this was not enough to repel evil, she scooped water from a bucket and lifted her hands to her face. She then chanted, "Just as this water slides off my arms, so should the evil eye slide off the servant of the Lord" It was then she said the name of the pregnant woman. After she had scooped 27 handfuls of water and chanted 27 times, she took water in her mouth and sprayed the mother. After birth, the woman beat herself with birch twigs and washed herself. With help and support from the old ones who had assisted in the birth, the mother went through the same ritual with the new-born child. Tereschenko, a 19th century Russian writer, wrote, "This custom of giving birth in the banya was not only followed by women of the Boyar, the nobility, but also among the Royal families."
Wedding Banya
After the groom had lifted his new wife over the threshold of the banya, a precaution taken because stillborn children were buried there and the groom did not want his first born to suffer the same fate. The newly wed couple undressed http://www.amazon.com/DIY-Home-Remedies-Ailments-Antibiotics-ebook/dp/B00RPVCE8S and tossed water on the rocks. Outside, wedding guests threw rocks and pottery at the banya to scare away the lurking Bannik. Whether or not sweating had anything to do with creating a viable marriage, at least the Russian Church sanctified it as one of the few permissible pagan rituals of the banya. The purification ritual began the night before with both the bride and groom taking separate banyas.
Occasionally a poor peasant family would not have a regular banya, but so important was the wedding banya that the household baking oven would be used instead. Before all the cakes and breads had been prepared, the oven was cleaned and the bride-to-be was shoved in on a wooden platter. The door was sealed from the outside while she sweated washed alone.
Funeral (Requiem) Banya
Many early Russian writers vividly described the "requiem" banya. In order to properly prepare a Russian soul for its journey to the next land, a pillow was stuffed with birch leaves and the coffin was sprinkled with birch twigs. Ihe soul would then be equipped with a "vennik" for banyas in the afterlife. Once the coffin was buried, the grave site was visited periodically and fresh venniks were left there. By bathing together after the funeral, mourners were assured that the beloved soul would be warmed for its long journey. The communal bath also affirmed their own lives and helped them overcome their grief. Forty days after death, the banya was again visited by friends and relatives of the deceased. If a farmer died, his daughter would sing this song while everyone was gathered in the banya:
"Come my breadwinner and nourisher, my father,
Your orphans have heated the bania for you,
our nourisher, our father,
The lye is ready,
The spring water warm,
And a satin white birch stick is ready,
Come nourisher, our father,
With no restraints or reservations,
Do not complain how the bania was heated,
or how you were prepared for,
Come promptly to us our father for a pleasant night,
We have intoxicating wine,
And we have distilled fresh brandy."
From the Christian point of view, the ritual of death banya was an object of mockery, as this portion of an ancient chronicle testifies: " ... but many people as a result from their blindness from evil place milk, meat, eggs for the dead on holy Thursday. They make a fire in the oven and toss water on the rocks after which they call out, 'Wash ye spirits!' They even take forth shirts and towels for the use of the dead. But the devil laughs at this stupidity and sneaks in and rolls around in the ashes, leaving tracks like a chicken. In this way they are deceived the blind idiots. When the people see the tracks in the ashes they say, 'Ah, the person's spirit has come and bathed!' and then the devil laughs."
Health Banyas
Pushkin wrote, "The Russian does not change his clothing on a journey, and when he reaches his destination, he is like a pig himself. Then he takes a banya the banya is like the Russian's 2nd mother." The Russian arrives home from a long trip bone weary and with smells of the barnyard on him. He goes to his second mother for rejuvenation, warmth, and a bath. She restores him to a state of glowing health. In Russia, sweating and health are virtually synonomous. From 1877 to 1911, more than 30 medical dissertations were published in Russia about the healing powers of the banya. Even today the attitude of the banya as a panacea is found in remote villages where the traditional folk medicine prevails.
In the 1700's 1800's, visitors to Russia usually appreciated the healing powers of the bania, and the Russians' repute as some of the hardiest peoples was spread throughout Europe. The Englishman William Tooke, a member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg, observed in 1799: "There are but few peculiar diseases prevalent among the Russians, and against most of them they know how to guard themselves by simple diet and domestic remedies. The women everywhere bring forth (give birth) with great facility, and usually in the bathrooms; the number of still-born children is therefore, in comparison with other countries, extremely small.
"In general, the common Russian uses but few medicines; supplying their place in all cases by the sweat bath, a practice so universal http://8xcv.com/ed/mh529/home+remedies+for+ed among them, and which has so decided an influence on the whole physical state of the people......It is not to be doubted that the Russians owe their longevity, their robust state of health, their little disposition to certain mortal diseases, and their happy and cheerful temper, mostly to the baths ..."
Sweat bathing was so important in Russia that if a regular banya was not at hand, a people would climb into a cooking oven. This was common in southern Russia, but also occurred in the north as well as in Finland.
Banyas The Church
The Church accused the banya as a hot bed of sin loose morals. The cries from the Church were usually muffled by the clergy's own promiscuous bathing habits. Such flagrant hypocrisy leads one to believe that the Russians took the Church seriously at least until the 19th century. Ivan the Terrible called a church meeting in the 1500's to discuss lax morals. At this meeting Ivan asked, "In the city of Pskow, men women, and monks nuns are bathing together without the least shame in the same room. Should this custom be forbidden when we consider that according to the laws of the holy father, not even a married man and his wite be permitted to bathe together?" The clerics, confessed that, yes, indeed, if it is unholy for men women to bathe together yes of course it is certainly wrong for monks nuns to bathe together.
Catherine the Great, issued the following edict: " ... especially in those rooms which are meant for women, no men may be allowed in except employees of the banya, artists doctors who wish to study improve themselves in their art." As you can well imagine, dillettantes of the arts and medicine flourished and thus co-ed bathing kept on being a popular activity.
Post-Revolution Banya's
Shortly after the Revolution, Lenin's government and the Bureau of Health began providing communal banyas in all parts of the country. The Russian book, "Why Banyas Are Necessary Both In The City And In The Country And How to Build One", was published in 1920. This book contained plans for banyas that could hold from 5-26 bathers. One of the earliest concerns of the new government was sanitation. During the Revolution, hygiene was neglected disease spread rampantly. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia of 1970 mentions bath houses as disinfectant stations: The construction of bath houses in USSR is carried out according to standard layouts accommodating 5 to 300 people in the cities and 10 to 50 people in settlements and rural localities. Depending on their arrangement, bath house may be classified as ordinary, disinfection center type or combination bath house; buildings furnished only with showers known as shower baths which are sometimes installed in summer pavillions are also built. Modern bath houses may have swimming pools, rooms for physical therapy, and disinfection chambers. So-called steam rooms, in which the temperatures reach from 40 to 50 degrees Celsius and the relative humidity is approximately 90%, are also widespread. In some bath houses there are separate rooms with dry heat. The layout of the bath house depends on its purpose. In bath houses of the disinfection center type, which are intended for sanitary processing, the bathers' dirty clothes are disinfected and clean underwear is issued. During the Great Patriotic War, bath trains, dugout baths, and protable shower installations were widespread.
World Acclaim
Russian banyas are gaining popularity in many parts of the world. Many manufacturers of personal home units offer many different styles to choose from that are centered around the traditional banya. The use of certain herbs in the water of the banya is thought to magnify the effect of the banya experience. Many believe that the banya is particularly important for preventive maintenance of the health and balance of the body. Popular herbs used in the banya may consist of any combination of the leaves of the currant, raspberries, and rosebuds. The basic procedure in using the banya is centuries old. Visitors are cautioned to remember that bodily response to the banya and time in the steam and the cold is different for each individual. Prior to a visit to the Banya, it is necessary to wash by warm water. However, dry hair is thought to protect the head from the heat. A recommendation for someone new to the banya experience to keep the head from overheating is to wear a woolen cap on the head, and prior to each banya session, wet this cap with cold water.
It is, of course, necessary to gradually get used to the heat of the banya upon entering. Several minutes are necessary to become acclimated and, initially, the banya patron should remain standing. Banya temperatures are not constant and may vary by as much as fifteen degrees so care should be taken at all stages. After becoming acclimated, the patron my sit or lie down allowing the muscles and the mind to become relaxed. An integral part of the Russian banya is the birch broom. The leaves of the birch branch add to the experience and, used properly, provide the perfect massage to compliment the effects of the humidity of the banya. For those new to the banya, the time in the banya should not exceed five to ten minutes. After the heat phase, many take an icy cold shower or immerse themselves in an icy water bath but not placing the head under the cold water. In winter, many hardy banya veterans will leave the banya and immerse themselves in a snow bank.
Newcomers to the banya have to know several important facts about the banya. It is important to enter the banya or increase the heat and steam gradually. In some banyas, finding a higher seat will allow increasing the heat and steam and a lower seat for somewhat cooler temperatures. Equally important is leaving the heat and steam of the banya gradually. It is best to not hurry to have a cold shower or immerse in cold water and the showers of the newcomers could be limited to room temperature. The newcomer may wish to gradually reduce the temperature of the water in the shower. Similarly, it is best to not drink extremely cold water. To many hardy banya veterans, the gradual temperature change is not necessary. The cold water provides a desired contrast with the temperature of the steam and produces a quenching effect. Some time relaxing in a waiting room wrapped in a sheet after a cool or cold shower is recommended. Many choose to repeat the steam heat, birching, cooling experience several times then re-enter the banya after about a 15 minute rest period.
If you have never visited a Rus banya then do so at the earliest opportunity. It is an experience that is so refreshing and so wonderful that you want to install one in your home.
Sources:
History of the Great Russian Bath
By: Mikkel Aaland 1998
Russian Banya (Steam Bath)
By: Igor Boutenko, President of the Russian Banya Institute
http://www.russian-tours.spb.ru/banya.html
http://www.cyberbohemia.com/Pages/russianbaniahistory.htm
http://www.rusbanya.com/eng_banya.htm
http://www.rusbanya.com/eng.htm
http://www.parilka.ru
http://www.lodgingspb.com/excursions/banya.htm
Copyright ©2006 - 2010 Donald R Houston, PhD. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the author's consent.
