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Wherever you are in the Northern Hemisphere, it is likely that sometime around now you are marking one of the dozens of religious or cultural holidays that celebrates the beginning of spring. In this year’s Easter Monday special, we look at the ancient origins some of the peculiar traditions and trappings of the Czech spring celebration.

Prague welcomed Easter early this year, maybe even earlier than usual. The cold weather and the return of snow almost made me forget a few weeks ago that spring and the Easter holiday are around the corner. But the rows of identical house-like stalls that one morning landed on one of my favorite squares in Prague – Náměstí Míru – served as a somewhat cynical reminder.

Hundreds of Catholics on Sunday poured into the Czech capital’s St. Vitus Cathedral, where Cardinal Dominik Duka was celebrating the country’s main Easter mass. The cardinal highlighted the important role Easter played in the Christian faith and blessed all attendees, as well as believers around the world. Some tourists had also come to attend the two-hour mass. Additional Easter masses were held in several other churches in Prague as well as across the country.

A record-sized egg sculpture composed of 45,000 individual eggs was created in Bludov, in the country’s Šumperk region near Olomouc, on Saturday. The huge egg object is over four meters tall and has a diameter of ten meters. It is composed of painted Easter eggs that have been tied together. People from across the country contributed to the record egg; some eggs were even sent in from abroad. This is the fourth such record from Bludov to make it into the Czech book of records.

Traffic police will be out in force for the long Easter weekend which traditionally increases road mortality figures. A police spokeswoman said several hundred officers would be put on duty along the country’s main roads and highways with the road safety-operation focusing primarily on drink-driving and speeding. Eighteen people died on Czech roads over the Easter weekend last year.

The Bavarian daily Süddeutsche Zeitung has warned German consumers of a possible egg shortage ahead of Easter due to Czech “egg tourism”. Many Czech consumers are travelling to Bavaria to purchase eggs, which have seen a sharp increase in prices in the Czech Republic. A number of German media have reported on the rise in demand for eggs in the country’s border regions. As a result, egg prices in Germany are growing. However, retailers do not expect an egg shortage in the weeks before Easter.In the Czech Republic as well as in other EU countries, the price of eggs has gone up due to a new EU directive on laying hen farms that went into effect this year.

Easter Monday, observed as a public holiday in the Czech Republic, celebrates the country’s colourful folklore traditions. Groups of carollers visit the homes of their family members and friends, carrying braided willow sticks, known as pomplázka. They playfully whip girls and women to ensure their good health over the next year, and in return receive coloured eggs, sometimes elaborately decorated. This ancient tradition is believed to have stemmed from pre-Christian pagan rituals. These traditions are particularly alive in the east of the Czech Republic.

Twelve people have died in road accidents in the Czech Republic over Easter; another four people were killed on Thursday. A 73-year-old man, a member of a motocross event organizing team, who died of injuries sustained when he was crossing the track and was hit by one of the racers. The relatively high number of road deaths occurred despite Czech police’ increased presence on the roads over the weekend; traffic police set up more than 150 patrols, focusing primarily on drunk driving and speeding.

For many Czechs, Easter goes much further beyond the Christian tradition of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The popular pomlázka, or whipping of women with braided willow sticks, is just one of the customs that have survived around the country from before the arrival of Christianity. Today, they form part of original Czech folklore with roots that go back many centuries.

Radio Prague's special Easter programme focuses on the music of Czech composer and conductor Jaroslav Krček, who has arranged and recorded a number of traditional folk songs pertaining to this time of year as well as a number of his own compositions, which draw heavily on Czech Easter traditions for their inspiration.