Buke Barane

Buke Barane

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.