Traditional beats fill air in Turkey during Ramadan

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Traditional beats fill air in Turkey during Ramadan

Drummers wearing traditional Ottoman clothes perform through the neighbourhoods of Istanbul.

Published: Sat 18 Jun 2016, 5:44 PM

Last updated: Sat 18 Jun 2016, 7:51 PM

The thudding sound of drum beats fills the air during Ramadan in Turkey. The beats will be on for an entire month - across streets and alleyways in every village, town and metropolis.
Ramazan Davulcusu (Ramadan drummers) is an age old tradition in Turkey, who wake up people for suhoor by beating a big double-headed drum. They beat out a variety of rhythms and sometimes may also sing a mani, a rhyming couplet.
In earlier times, as the month drew to an end, the drummers would stand outside the houses entertaining the inhabitants with poems as a polite way of asking for tips.
The tradition of firing cannons to alert Muslims about suhoor and iftar is also practised in the Eurasian country.
Iftar usually begins with dates, sweet drinks, breakfast and soup followed by traditional dinner. Usually Iftar gatherings are held, to which friends and family are invited.
Ramadan is a month of brotherhood, renewal of relationships and festivity, and Turkish Muslims end the rigour of fasting with the celebration of Seker - Ramadan Bayram (Sugar Feast).
They celebrate this occasion by wearing their best clothes, called bayramlik - which they often buy specifically for the occasion - and have a large breakfast.
A traditional Turkish iftar will include freshly-baked flat pide bread, and usually soup, pickled vegetables, olives and other easily-prepared edibles.
Ramadan is unthinkable without baklava and güllaç, a pudding made of thin crepes soaked in sweetened milk or syrup flavoured with rose water and stuffed or layered with ground nuts.
yousufk@khaleejtimes.com