What is "romuva"

Romuva is a contemporary continuation of the traditional ethnic religion of the Baltic peoples, reviving the ancient religious practices of the Lithuanians before their Christianization in 1387. Romuva claims to continue living Baltic pagan traditions which survived in folklore and customs. Romuva is a polytheistic pagan faith which asserts the sanctity of nature and has elements of ancestor worship. Practising the Romuva faith is seen by many adherents as a form of cultural pride, along with celebrating traditional forms of art, retelling Baltic folklore, practising traditional holidays, playing traditional Baltic music, singing traditional dainas or hymns and songs as well as ecological activism and stewarding sacred places. The community was organized and led by krivių krivaitis (high priest) Jonas Trinkūnas until his death in 2014.

Romuva primarily exists in Lithuania but there are also congregations of adherents in Australia, Canada, the United States, and England. There are also Romuvans in Norway, for whom a formal congregation is being organized. There are believers of Baltic pagan faiths in other nations, including Dievturība in Latvia. According to the 2001 census, there were 1,270 people of Baltic faith in Lithuania. That number jumped to 5,118 in the 2011 census.

Romuva may refer to:

• Romuva (temple), an ancient worship place in Old Prussia
• Romuva (religion), a pagan movement in modern Lithuania
• Lithuanian name for Pravdinsk, town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia
• Romuva, heaven in the philosophical writings of Vydūnas

Romuva or Romowe (known as Rickoyoto in writings of Simon Grunau) was an alleged pagan worship place (a temple or a sacred area) in western part of Sambia, one of the regions of the pagan Prussia. In contemporary sources the temple was mentioned only once by Peter von Dusburg in 1326. According to his account, Kriwe, the chief priest or "pagan pope", lived at Romuva and ruled over the religion of all the Balts. According to Simon Grunau the temple was central to Prussian mythology. Even though there are considerable doubts whether such a place actually existed, the Lithuanian neo-pagan movement Romuva borrowed its name from the temple.