Maavalla Koda


Maavalla Koda is a religious organisation uniting adherents of the two kinds of Estonian native religion or Estonian Neopaganism: Taaraism and Maausk.
Maavalla Koda was registered as a union of religious associations in Estonia in 1995. The initial constituent members of the union were three local registered religious associations, Emujärve Koda, Härjapea Koda, and Tartu Supilinna Koda. Later, Tartu Supilinna Koda has been renamed Emajõe Koda, and the newer association of Maausk adherents of the island Saaremaa, Maausuliste Saarepealne Koda, has been admitted to Maavalla Koda.
On the Estonian military NATO-standard dog tag, adherents of Taarausk and Maausk are identified with the abbreviation EST. A runic calendar noting festivals of the Estonian traditional religion is published annually by Maavalla Koda. The current focus of activity of Maavalla Koda is on traditional natural sacred sites in Estonia, with the aim of mapping and doing folkloristic research in order to preserve and perpetuate the local traditions relating to these. Along with the University of Tartu, Maavalla Koda co-operates in a government programme initiated to ensure the documentation and protection of natural sacred sites in Estonia.

Management

Maavalla Koda is run by a board of three members – an Elder, a Warden, and a Secretary. The board is elected by the Assembly of Maavalla Koda comprising representatives of local associations.

Elders of Maavalla Koda

In 2001, Maavalla Koda was one of the founders of an umbrella organisation, the Uralic Communion, founded in order to facilitate co-operation among adherents of Uralic native religions.
Other founders of the Uralic Communion included