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Turkish Customs
Ramazan (Fasting) begins 30 days before
Bayram. If you have decided to starve you have to get up before
sunrise, pray and then you have to have a good breakfast washed down with a
lot of water, because you must neither eat nor drink till sunset. When the
dusk falls and the top of the mosque are lit up you have the right to drink
a gulp of water and then have a substantial meal. The starvation purifies
you from your sins. The 30th day of Ramazan marks the beginning
of the Bayram. On this day the children go round the houses of the Turks and
kiss the hands of the older members of the family who give them sweets and
small change. Those who have quarreled or hurt each others feeling make it
up by kissing their hands. This year Ramazan bayram begins on 16 December.
75 days later begins Kurban Bayran. On
that day the people get up early and they slaughter the biggest ram. This
offering is done for the health of a member of the family. The right side of
the animal is given to seven poor families while the skin and the head is
given to a rich person. The family eats the left side of the animal. Ten the
men from the family go to pray in the mosque. On they return home the
youngest members of the family kiss their hands. |
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Recipes
In the pictures:
Alisse, a Turkish student of the Vth Language School in Varna, dressed
in a typical Turkish costume worn on one of their celebrations (on
the right) and during a Turkish folk dance which accompanies the
celebrations held on the Bayrams.
Higher: Alisse's grandmother. The costume she wears was one worn
during the Ramazan Bayram. |
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