This photo was taken by the ethnographer Makar Yevseviev in the Mokshan village of Kardafley, Gorodischensky district, Penza Province in 1931. The photo shows a group of men in peasant clothing standing in front of ritual food and utensils spread on the ground.

Pre-Christian Mordovian public prayers -ozks-molyany (from the word “oznoms”, which means “to pray”) appeared in the times of the primitive tribal system, but the development of agriculture led to the formation of their main complex. The molyany rites were performed, for example, before the first grazing on the meadow, before plowing, sowing, and harvesting.

The ethnographer Makar Yevseviev wrote:

At the beginning of June there was a prayer “alashan ozks” or “prayer for horses”. This included praying for the health and reproduction of horses. It was an all-male rite, women were not allowed to attend. The men gathered at the edge of the forest, bringing sacrificial food: meat and bread. The bread for a molyan was baked in a special way. In a crust of a large loaf of rye they put an egg in shell. Treats were laid on the canvases on the ground. The men asked the deities to hear their prayers for the health of the horses, thanked them for their help and goodwill.

This rite was conducted after the end of the spring plowing, when horses did most of the work and needed to restore their strength before the autumn harvest.

Yevseviev managed to take this picture of the prayer in the Mokshan village of Kardafley. The peasants were reluctant to allow outsiders into their sacred rituals, so it took a long time for the ethnographer to realize his plan. He wrote: