The centuries-old tradition of drumming to wake people before sahur time in Ramadan has endured new technologies and phone alarms, as at least 3,400 drummers of different age groups will take to the streets in Istanbul during the next 29 days, the chairperson of the mukhtars association said on Tuesday.
Dressed in costumes dating back to Ottoman times, drummers dispersed across streets in 963 neighborhoods of Türkiye's most populous city are ready to be back on duty and wake the Muslim faithful by beating their drums and reciting short poems before dawn that marks the start of fasting.
Selami Aykut, who heads a federation of mukhtars in Istanbul in charge of traditional Ramadan drummers, stated that the drummers had completed all their preparations for Ramadan in Istanbul, emphasizing that this tradition dating to the Ottoman era is one of the beauties of the month of Ramadan. "We struggle to keep this tradition alive with our 963 mukhtars and drummers in Istanbul. Accordingly, we first determined our Ramadan drummers with our mukhtars and looked for suitable clothes for (them)," Aykut said.
Stating that some drummers assigned in each neighborhood have been working in the same area for years, Aykut noted that this tradition is often kept alive over the generations and passed on from fathers to sons. Adding that the drummers undergo training before beginning with their duty, Aykut noted that trainees who pass an assessment are handed the "Ramadan drummer" card and are then ready to perform this unique one-month profession.
Emphasizing that drumming is a job and that not just anyone can do it, Aykut said that citizens should pay attention to the accreditation of the drummers underlining that this unique culture of Ramadan must be protected and preserved for future generations.
''We need to tell our children and youth the culture of Ramadan and the beauties of Ramadan. These are our values; we have to protect them," he concluded.
