Hıdırellez Traditions in Çorum

Hıdırellez is a spring and fertility festival observed in Çorum on 6 May. The book 2006 Yılında Çorum’da Yaşayan Geleneksel Kutlamalar (Traditional Celebrations Living in Çorum in 2006), published by the Turkish Folklore Society of Hitit University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, collects field recordings that students made with informants in Çorum city, its districts and villages during the spring term of 2005-2006. For Hıdırellez the book holds nine separate records: Kargı, Seydim township, Alaca, Ovasaray village, Dodurga, Oğuzlar, Eskiekin village, Mecitözü and Merkez (the city centre). The information below follows those records; each practice is the account given in the place where it was recorded, and details differ from one locality to another.

Calendar and duration

All nine records tie the celebration to 6 May; in the Kargı, Seydim, Alaca, Ovasaray, Dodurga, Eskiekin and Mecitözü records preparations or wishes begin the day before, on 5 May, and in the Merkez record the wish is drawn on the night joining 5 and 6 May. The length varies. In the Kargı record Hıdırellez lasts six days; in Seydim it is held on 6, 7, 8 and 9 May; in Alaca the festivities last three days, and in Mecitözü three days as well.

Preparation: cleaning and kaynatma

• House cleaning. In Kargı houses are cleaned from top to bottom, stoves are taken down, children are bought new clothes, winter garments are put away and summer ones brought out, and on Hıdırellez day heavy woollen winter garments are left out in the sun; the record gives the purpose as being rid of the cold and the evil of winter. In Seydim bed linen is washed and hung out; because Hızır (Khidr) is thought to call at a clean house, a Hıdırellez cleaning is done every Hıdırellez.
• Food. In Kargı, leavened dishes and kaynatma (a boiled dish) are prepared a day ahead so that Hızır may come and lay a hand on them and bless them. In Seydim, stuffed vine leaves, stuffed peppers and kaynatma are prepared on the evening of 5 May and dried fruit and nuts are bought; on the morning of 6 May kısır, salad and tandır çöreği (oven-baked flatbread) are made. In Alaca börek and çörek are mentioned, in Ovasaray kneaded dough and kaynatma, and in Eskiekin leavened dough. In the Eskiekin record the kaynatma cooked at the gathering place is also called hedik aşı. In the Oğuzlar record housewives carry kaynatma made of seven ingredients to Çorum’s Hıdırlık locality.

Wishes: the rose tree and wish papers

Making a wish is common to most records, and its form varies by locality:

• In Kargı, houses and cars are drawn on paper and hung on a wish tree; a coin tied in a piece of cloth is hung on a rose bush, and Hızır’s hand is asked to touch the coin so that it will be blessed.
• In Seydim a wish is made on the first day, and a handkerchief, headscarf or piece of cloth is tied to a tree or rose branch.
• In Alaca a paper with the wish written on it is tied to a branch of a rose tree; according to a belief given in the record, whoever’s paper has gone missing from the branch on the morning of 6 May will have the wish granted.
• In Mecitözü wishes are drawn on paper and hung on a rose tree; the papers hung at night are collected at dawn.
• In the Merkez record, on the night joining 5 and 6 May a picture of whatever is wished for is drawn at the foot of a rose tree, and it is believed the wish will come true within a year. In Eskiekin people rise at midnight and draw wishes such as a house or a car on paper or on the ground.
• In Oğuzlar, toward evening, small houses are drawn on the ground with stones, and then fortunes (niyet) are drawn from clay pots.

Gelin kaldırma (gifts for brides)

The Kargı and Seydim records describe a Hıdırellez custom called gelin kaldırma; in the Eskiekin record gifts are given to girls who are brides, and in the Ovasaray record various pieces of jewellery are put on them.

• Kargı: The groom’s side sends word to the bride a day earlier; on Hıdırellez morning the bride is “raised” (kaldırılır) early and taken to a picnic spot, usually a highland pasture. Mothers-in-law give their brides the clothes and jewellery they have bought.
• Seydim: The groom’s family gives gifts, mostly clothing and jewellery, to engaged girls and new brides; this is called gelin kaldırma. After the gifts have been given and everyone has eaten and drunk, the engaged girl or bride and the groom are brought to Hıdırlık in Çorum city, where two rak’ahs of prayer are performed and a prayer for abundance and blessing is made.
• Alaca: According to the record, Hıdırellez festivities were once attended only by women, with young girls seeking a match; today men attend as well and the entertainment is mixed.

Places: picnic areas, shrines and Hıdırlık

• Çorum city: The informant says that on Hıdırellez day people go above all to the locality called Hıdırlık, visit the shrines (yatır) and picnic. According to an account in the Seydim record, a stone that fell in Mecca was found in the well at Hıdırlık, which is why the place is visited every Hıdırellez. For the building at Hıdırlık see the page on the Hıdırlık Mosque.
• Seydim: Neighbours gather by age group in gardens, on the shore of Seydim Pond or at the Seydim Aş Evi (a communal kitchen); visitors come every Hıdırellez to the tomb of Şeyh Seyyid Murad. Ball games are played and rope is skipped until dark.
• Dodurga: Early in the morning nearby shrines and tombs are visited, then people picnic on green ground and play games; later they return to the shrines to make wishes. For the tombs in Dodurga see Mehmet Dede and Hüsam Dede Tombs.
• Oğuzlar: Tombs are visited and prayers said; the food is eaten at Hıdırlık and games are played until evening.
• Ovasaray: People gather on river banks or meadows and offer each other the food they have made; women and children skip rope and ride swings.

Festival format in Alaca and Mecitözü

In the Alaca record the informant says Hıdırellez was once an ordinary picnic and has now become a festival. The programme in the year of recording lists concerts by local artists, cooking and voice contests, apple-eating contests, the çelik çomak game and wrestling matches, with a fairground set up for children on an empty lot. In Mecitözü an empty field is chosen as the fairground; on the first day everyone brings the food they made at home and shares it, circumcision ceremonies are now timed to coincide with Hıdırellez, and on the last day local artists sing folk songs. For other traditional games in Çorum see Çorum Folk Dances.

Notes

The book does not discuss the origin of Hıdırellez or interpret the belief in Hızır; it only records the practices informants described. The Hıdırellez section of the book also includes a record titled Tepreş Festivals from Sungurlu, which is not covered on this page.

Sources

• M. Öcal Oğuz and Tuğçe Işıkhan (eds.), 2006 Yılında Çorum’da Yaşayan Geleneksel Kutlamalar, Hitit Üniversitesi Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi Türk Halkbilimi Topluluğu Yayınları: 6, Ankara 2006, pp. 17-26 (Hıdırellez recordings). https://hacibayram.edu.tr/api/files/1/Hac%C4%B1bayram%20AHBV/thbmer(tr-TR)/GELENEKSEL%20KUTLAMALAR.pdf