Vardavar is on the third Sunday of July (this year it is July 15) and is in fact a nature-worshipping feast. Its name is a derivative from “vard” in Armenian, which stands for “rose” in English. The water-pouring festival originated in the pagan times when people thus worshipped Astghik, the goddess of love and beauty. After embracing Christianity in 301 AD, Armenians adjusted their festival, along with many others practiced before Christ, to the “new times.”