Easter is one of the biggest holidays for Christians. In Georgia people meet the holiday with the most industrious preparation. Preparations start with dyeing eggs red on Good Friday. To dye eggs, natural dye, roots of the Madder plant is used. For bright color some people add skins of onions.

And what is the theory and why do we dye eggs red? Where did this tradition come from?

Maybe not everybody knows that the theory is associated with Mary- Jesus’ mother, but everybody knows that for Christians, the Easter egg is symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The story itself is that, Mary greeted the Roman Emperor Tiberius by saying ‘Christ has Risen’ on which Tiberius replied, that it was as impossible as the eggs in her basket become red. According to the legend, pointing the eggs in the basket, they turned red.

According to other legends, Mary was present at her son’s crucifixion on Good Friday. She brought eggs with her. In one version, blood from Jesus’ wounds drops on the eggs, coloring them red. Another version of the legend tells of Mary weeping, begging the soldiers at the cross to be less cruel to her son. She gave these soldiers eggs and as her tears fell on them, they were spotted with red color.



Red eggs are rolled on Easter day as a symbolic re-enactment of the rolling away of the stone from Christ’s tomb.

By Saba Tavdgiridze