Buke Barane

Kurdish festivals, Kurdish traditions, Buka Barana
Buke Barane is a traditional Kurdish festival celebrated in days of drought, when there is no rain to break the thirst of the fields. The term ''Buke Barane'' (pron: buka barana) means ''Bride of the Rain'' or ''Rain Bride'' and with no doubt represents an ancient deity of the rain.

Although depending on the vast geography of Kurdistan there are several regional variations of the festival , but in general they are essentially the same custom and share the same purpose.

The most common version of the festival is as following. people make a doll out of two or more beams and dress it up like a bride in beautiful clothes. dependeing on the region a young girl or a young man/boy holds up and carries the rain-bride in her/his hands. Then the bride is accompanied by a crowd of youngsters and children; they follow her house by house in the town or in the village. At every door they sing a hymn which partially is:

''Buke barane awî dewé,
Awî néw genmanî dewé
chorchorey soybanî dewé...''
that is :
''The rain-bride wants water,
she wants it for the cereal fields,
she wants to see the rain overflowing the roofs...''

By this they expect one of the family members of the house they knocking its door to pour a bucket of water on the rain-bride; and to get some gifts (as booty) for the youngsters accopmpannying the rain-bride.
At the end they all gather somewhere out of the town or the village and pray for the rain. Finnaly they move towards a nearby river and throw the rain-bride into the river.

As said above this festival which likely has analogues in some other cultures across the world, is rooted in rituals of the old days.

Stupidity without borders

Anti-Kurdism, Anti-Kurdist, Antikurdism, Antikurdist, Kurdish cultural genocide, Kurdistan nature, kurdophobia

Did you know that there is a so-called country where animals' scientific names can be regarded as separatist-motivated?! Well, that is not a hoax, there exists one place by the name ''Turkey'' where this stupidity is a reality!
In Turkey any reference to the historic name of ''Kurdistan'' is officially regarded as an offensive blasphemy! The Turks' oversensitiveness for the name Kurdistan reaches a degree that not only the use of the word is considered a criminal offense, but also they alter Latin names of poor animals which because are found in the territory of Kurdistan bear the name Kurdistan!

An example of this ridiculous name alteration is a beautiful animal called ''Red fox'' which its Latin name is ''Vulpes Vulpes Kurdistanica''. The genious Turkish officials have come to the conclusion that this name is contentious and divisive!
What can be said about this? This alknower Turkish officials should be awarded with something for making use of their genious brains. It's really pathetic...

Beautiful Homeland


Today I'm going to point out some interesting facts about Kurdistan; though not limited to those listed below but I think the most notable ones are as following:

  • Kurdistan is the first place on earth where "agriculture" began (Cradle of Agriculture).
  • Kurdistan is the land associated with "Garden of Eden".
  • Kudistan's Mountains are where Noah's Ark is supposed to have landed.
  • The alleged grave of prophet Abaraham is located in Kurdistan.
  • One of the earliest traces of wine has been found in Kurdistan.
(Image: Traditional methods to thresh wheat in Kurdistan, near Sanandaj, Eastern Kurdistan)

Shanidar


Shanidar is name of an attractive cave located in the Zagros Mountains of southern Kurdistan. What is interesting about Shanidar is being once home for Neanderthals which places Shanidar among the rare and unique caves in the world. The Neanderthal skeletons found in the cave date between 60-80,000 years.
It was excavated between 1957-1961 by Ralph Solecki and his team from Columbia University. The excavated area produced nine skeletons of Neanderthals of varying ages and states of preservation and completeness (labelled Shanidar I - IX). The tenth individual was recently discovered by M. Zeder during examination of a faunal assemblage from the site at Smithsonian institute. The remains suggest that Neandertals had funeral ceremonies, burying their dead with flowers, and took care of injured individuals.

We are Kurds




O! hate-filled invaders!
O! savages without conscience!
You can't force us not to be Kurds
we were Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain
we were Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain

Before Islam
before Zoroastrianism
under oppression and in freedom
we were Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain


I'm Neither an Arab,
Nor an Iranian
Nor a Mountain Turk,
even history will sing with me
that I am a Kurd , a Kurdistani...

I am Neither an Arab ,
Nor an Iranian
Nor a Mountain Turk,
even history will sing with me
that I am a Kurd , a Kurdistani...
that I am a Kurd , a Kurdistani...

It's neither a shame, nor a pride
that there exist differences among nations
it's a decision by history
that we are Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain
that we are Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain

Other nations are all my brothers,
just oppressors are my enemies.
I am not asking for any one's land
I am not trespassing on any one's territory.
for the rights of my people and my land
as long as I am alive....I will fight

O! hate-filled invaders!
O! savages without conscience!
even if you flatten Mount Qandil
and Mount Agiri (Ararat) and mount Shirin to the ground
you can't force us not to be Kurds.
we were Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain
we were Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain
we were Kurds
and Kurds we shall remain.

By, Ibrahim Ahmad (1914-2000)
Sorry for possible errors in translation from Kurdish.