Kūlgrinda | en

The ritual folk group Kūlgrinda first came together in 1990, at the time of Lithuanian national rebirth. The founders - Inia and Jonas Trinkunas remain the leaders of this group. In 1997, Jonas Trinkunas has received the national J. Basanavičius award for the fostering of traditional Lithuanian culture. During the Soviet period, he was one of the main participants of the Ramuva cultural movement, as well as one of the founders of the Vilnius University Ramuva folk culture movement. He is the author and editor of the book "Of Gods and Holidays, The Baltic heritage", Vilnius, 1999. He works at the Lithuanian Institute for Social Sciences, and is a member of the Council for the preservation of ethnic culture to the Lithuanian Parliament. He has experience of directing various folk ensembles - the Žiūrai village ensemble (which has recently celebrated its 30th anniversary), the Sadauja ensemble, the Vilnius Institute of Art ensemble, and others.
The sound of young voices saturates Kūlgrinda. Most of the members of the group are girls and boys between 17 and 25 years of age, wearing clothes of the 10-12 century Lithuania, as reconstructed form archeological finds, common features are - brass jewelry, sashes woven with traditional symbols.
Kūlgrinda performs wedding, christening and other family and calendar holiday ceremonies according to Lithuanian tradition. The ceremonies are usually performed in Vilnius, on the Duke Gediminas burial hill, in the Verkiai park by the Lizdeika altar, in Kernavė, and on other castle-mounds and sacral hills, in nature and indoors. Kulgrinda is invited to various national ceremonies in Vilnius and in other cities. As Kūlgrinda specializes in traditional rituals and ceremonies, it has participated in state events. Notable is the group's participation in consecrating the Lithuanian President's flag in 1993. .