The Drums of Ramadan will take to the streets of Istanbul once again this year to mark the start of ‘Sahur Time’, which occurs just before dawn, and is the last meal that is consumed early in the morning by Muslims before the beginning of their Fasting, which lasts from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan.
An ‘Ottoman Age’ tradition dating back thousands of years which has not only stood the test of time, but it also continues to defy the digital age with alarm clocks, watches, and mobile phones. Lasting for 29 days, around 3,400 drummers of varying age groups will walk through 963 neighbourhoods beating their drums and reciting poems. Trained for the role – with many drummers, known as ‘Al Masaher’ having worked in the same area for years, it is a unique tradition, and should be respected for generations to come.
Usually dressed in clothes from that period, drummers go through a period of training & preparations, plus meet with local government heads for identification and to assign routes. Any new drummers within the group for that year, must also complete their training and receive the ‘Drummers Card’ before they can join in fully and be able to perform. Given that it’s a generational tradition, many cards will have been handed down from father to son over many years.
Selami Aykut is a Mukhtar Federation Leader in Istanbul, in charge of the Ramadan Drummers & he was keen to emphasise in a recent press interview that ‘We struggle to keep this traditional alive with our 963 mukhtars and looked for suitable clothes for them – however – citizens should pay attention to the accreditation of the drummers as it’s a unique culture which must be protected and preserved’. He went on to add that ‘We need to tell our children the culture of Ramadan, these are our values, and we have to protect them’.
*image credit to TRT World
