Greetings,
I have been pondering lately on what to post on my blog and now I have some reason to post a topic for some people who are curious about Kurban Bayramı aka The Sacrifice Day.
This morning was the very first day of bayram aka the festival. For that reason I decided to give a "detailed" information for the foreign people who are so interested in that day. So, here is the account of the first day of the festival. I managed to take part in this ritual by being a volunteer photographer and by their PERMISSION here and I managed to take some "realistic" pictures for you.
I am not planning to talk about the historical part of this ritual but I will only give some information about the day itself. Some of the scenes could be "gory". Therefore be ready to read my "informative" account here.
The content of this topic should be considered neither humiliating nor demeaning as to the rituals and the religious acts but INFORMATIVE.
In the first day of the festival, if possible, all the members of the family must be awake so that the animal will be prepared and there will be enough time to do other doings of the day. Here, the most important thing is to be "efficient". For the sacrifice there must be at least 3 people: a consent giver, a butcher and an assistant.
First the animal is brought onto the stage:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933344874298658
If you have noticed here there are three people in the picture. A hand of a man on the right horn of the sheep and a hand of a person (obviously the consent giver is a woman here) and a lady with a red cloth in her hand in the background.
Here, you cannot or should not directly slaughter the sacrifice. Firstly you had better tranquillize or soothe the animal by loving and petting. According to the "REAL" rituals and acts, you should hurt animal neither physically nor psychologically. That is the RULE! Here people are doing as best as they could to soothe the animal:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933361873517010
Now, you have to place the animal neatly onto the ground here and the lady behind the man is preparing a piece of tread to tie up the sacrifice:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933387049340802
Now, that is the scene in which you can see the animal's being tied up:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933396722038594
And this is an other view:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933398565104114
Everything on this picture can be seen so easy but I can assure you that it is not as I myself witnessed every process here.
Now that you have the sacrifice lied on the ground you should keep petting the sacrifice until it stops moving which is actually not easy at all. In this picture you will see again there people. The person with yellow scar is the consent giver. The consent giver is the one who paid all the expenses for the animal and the animal will be sacrificed on their (her) sake. During this period, you cannot say " Yes" and take off. You should declare (say out loud) that I am the one who gives the consent of this offering to God and the let the sacrifice be accepted by God on my sake by repeating THREE TIMES.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933404360652098
As you may notice the sacrifice is calmer here and you MUST feel that the sacrifice itself is also READY to give up on its life. Honestly, as the eye-witness here, it is a little bit sentimental moment as I myself saw that the sacrifice was ready to GO. You may think that it is silly but seriously the sacrifice was calmer. At the same time you should recite my religious words here again three time in succession.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933419089678162
I suppose that you might have realized that only three legs of the sacrifice were tied up. Why? Because only one fourth of the animal must be free so that the sacrifice can move comfortably while its is being sacrificed. Do not forget: they are the sacrifices not slaves. The appearance of the knife can be scary a little bit but the knife should be easy to reach for the sacrifice. You should be looking for the knife while the sacrifice is waiting for being sacrificed, right? Then it would be a torture. In the meantime you should tie up its eyes , as well.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933439597039234
This is the original scene in which the consent giver is giving their consent the the man is making them "repeat" the consent three times.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933474072958898
It is me who was taking the photos of the Sacrifice, and you may think that I am such a cold-blooded person. OK, here is my confession here just between you and me. After this pictures (inclusive) I closed my eyes and raised my arms to get the best photos. You might have realized that after this pictures were a little bit blurry because I was taking the photos when my EYES WERE CLOSED and my hands were shaking since I did not know whether or not the man was sacrificing the sacrifice! These photos were taken randomly as I could not dare to watch.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933482750644674
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933498561100434
Please, notice that this three points:
1) The man who is there to sacrifice the animal should be an expert and be acquainted with animals pretty much.
2) Your knife should be sharp as possible as it is. Pay attention to that you should pay respect to the sacrifice as it is not a simple animal, it is your special guest and you should welcome your guest as best as you can.
3)You should use the knife three times not to torture your sacrifice. This is an important and rarely know point. In your first attempt you should be able to cut the "carotid artery" which is either of two large arteries in the neck carrying blood to the head. So that the animal will die physically. In the second attempt you must have finished with the half way through the neck and in the third, final attempt the head should be off the body.
Yes, now that's the photo:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933509335866018
My hand is alittle bit shaky:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933510055530498
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933521565617490
I could not catch up with the third attempt as I had to leave for a while.
When the sacrifice is... is... you know I could not find the correct word here. You should let the sacrifice to let all the blood go out. I think it is not for the soul the leave the body. When all the major twitches are gone you can wait a little bit more and then you can start to skin the animal.
Untie the tread:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933565057035138
I must confess that the man was a kind of professional with the animals as the method that he used to skin the animal was... pretty cool and handy.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933580259523426
Here first he used a king of method which seemed at first pretty funny but then and if you follow him carefully it is pretty smart.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933580259523426
Here, the man grabbed an iron bar, jabbed it into the flesh of the sacrifice and then he blew through the bar into the flesh and here is the picture:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933580259523426
And other one which is more visible:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933602175157154
When he blows into the skin:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933602471411970
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933611555478258
Every time he blew into the skin he checked out whether the sacrifice was getting bigger evenly:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933652309212962
This part is a little bit gory but yıu may see that the sacrifice was getting bigger and bigger like a balloon:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933643780444722
When the sacrifice was pretty big, it was ready to get skinned by tearing a hole in one of the legs:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933658148432338
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933678880738530
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933710140672322
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933711048687410
In the meantime, I did not have much to talk about the lady who was very helpful and she was the one actually to do all the important tasks suck as skinning the skull which was a real burden.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933685480181842
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#567193372579892770
And this is final picture that ı want to share with you as the final phase: Skinning the body.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933731477963874
And this a less gory picture: An unwanted guest:)
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933375644802162
All the events happened in one day and compared to the other people's cruel attitudes towards their "so-called-sacrifices" I was pretty glad to witness a good and a exemplary sacrifice ritual.
And finally I want to thank the lady who did all the things.
If you have any Qs, please write your comment.
Thank you.
I have been pondering lately on what to post on my blog and now I have some reason to post a topic for some people who are curious about Kurban Bayramı aka The Sacrifice Day.
This morning was the very first day of bayram aka the festival. For that reason I decided to give a "detailed" information for the foreign people who are so interested in that day. So, here is the account of the first day of the festival. I managed to take part in this ritual by being a volunteer photographer and by their PERMISSION here and I managed to take some "realistic" pictures for you.
I am not planning to talk about the historical part of this ritual but I will only give some information about the day itself. Some of the scenes could be "gory". Therefore be ready to read my "informative" account here.
The content of this topic should be considered neither humiliating nor demeaning as to the rituals and the religious acts but INFORMATIVE.
In the first day of the festival, if possible, all the members of the family must be awake so that the animal will be prepared and there will be enough time to do other doings of the day. Here, the most important thing is to be "efficient". For the sacrifice there must be at least 3 people: a consent giver, a butcher and an assistant.
First the animal is brought onto the stage:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933344874298658
If you have noticed here there are three people in the picture. A hand of a man on the right horn of the sheep and a hand of a person (obviously the consent giver is a woman here) and a lady with a red cloth in her hand in the background.
Here, you cannot or should not directly slaughter the sacrifice. Firstly you had better tranquillize or soothe the animal by loving and petting. According to the "REAL" rituals and acts, you should hurt animal neither physically nor psychologically. That is the RULE! Here people are doing as best as they could to soothe the animal:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933361873517010
Now, you have to place the animal neatly onto the ground here and the lady behind the man is preparing a piece of tread to tie up the sacrifice:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933387049340802
Now, that is the scene in which you can see the animal's being tied up:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933396722038594
And this is an other view:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933398565104114
Everything on this picture can be seen so easy but I can assure you that it is not as I myself witnessed every process here.
Now that you have the sacrifice lied on the ground you should keep petting the sacrifice until it stops moving which is actually not easy at all. In this picture you will see again there people. The person with yellow scar is the consent giver. The consent giver is the one who paid all the expenses for the animal and the animal will be sacrificed on their (her) sake. During this period, you cannot say " Yes" and take off. You should declare (say out loud) that I am the one who gives the consent of this offering to God and the let the sacrifice be accepted by God on my sake by repeating THREE TIMES.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933404360652098
As you may notice the sacrifice is calmer here and you MUST feel that the sacrifice itself is also READY to give up on its life. Honestly, as the eye-witness here, it is a little bit sentimental moment as I myself saw that the sacrifice was ready to GO. You may think that it is silly but seriously the sacrifice was calmer. At the same time you should recite my religious words here again three time in succession.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933419089678162
I suppose that you might have realized that only three legs of the sacrifice were tied up. Why? Because only one fourth of the animal must be free so that the sacrifice can move comfortably while its is being sacrificed. Do not forget: they are the sacrifices not slaves. The appearance of the knife can be scary a little bit but the knife should be easy to reach for the sacrifice. You should be looking for the knife while the sacrifice is waiting for being sacrificed, right? Then it would be a torture. In the meantime you should tie up its eyes , as well.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933439597039234
This is the original scene in which the consent giver is giving their consent the the man is making them "repeat" the consent three times.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933474072958898
It is me who was taking the photos of the Sacrifice, and you may think that I am such a cold-blooded person. OK, here is my confession here just between you and me. After this pictures (inclusive) I closed my eyes and raised my arms to get the best photos. You might have realized that after this pictures were a little bit blurry because I was taking the photos when my EYES WERE CLOSED and my hands were shaking since I did not know whether or not the man was sacrificing the sacrifice! These photos were taken randomly as I could not dare to watch.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933482750644674
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933498561100434
Please, notice that this three points:
1) The man who is there to sacrifice the animal should be an expert and be acquainted with animals pretty much.
2) Your knife should be sharp as possible as it is. Pay attention to that you should pay respect to the sacrifice as it is not a simple animal, it is your special guest and you should welcome your guest as best as you can.
3)You should use the knife three times not to torture your sacrifice. This is an important and rarely know point. In your first attempt you should be able to cut the "carotid artery" which is either of two large arteries in the neck carrying blood to the head. So that the animal will die physically. In the second attempt you must have finished with the half way through the neck and in the third, final attempt the head should be off the body.
Yes, now that's the photo:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933509335866018
My hand is alittle bit shaky:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933510055530498
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933521565617490
I could not catch up with the third attempt as I had to leave for a while.
When the sacrifice is... is... you know I could not find the correct word here. You should let the sacrifice to let all the blood go out. I think it is not for the soul the leave the body. When all the major twitches are gone you can wait a little bit more and then you can start to skin the animal.
Untie the tread:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933565057035138
I must confess that the man was a kind of professional with the animals as the method that he used to skin the animal was... pretty cool and handy.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933580259523426
Here first he used a king of method which seemed at first pretty funny but then and if you follow him carefully it is pretty smart.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933580259523426
Here, the man grabbed an iron bar, jabbed it into the flesh of the sacrifice and then he blew through the bar into the flesh and here is the picture:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933580259523426
And other one which is more visible:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933602175157154
When he blows into the skin:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933602471411970
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933611555478258
Every time he blew into the skin he checked out whether the sacrifice was getting bigger evenly:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933652309212962
This part is a little bit gory but yıu may see that the sacrifice was getting bigger and bigger like a balloon:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933643780444722
When the sacrifice was pretty big, it was ready to get skinned by tearing a hole in one of the legs:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933658148432338
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933678880738530
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933710140672322
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933711048687410
In the meantime, I did not have much to talk about the lady who was very helpful and she was the one actually to do all the important tasks suck as skinning the skull which was a real burden.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933685480181842
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#567193372579892770
And this is final picture that ı want to share with you as the final phase: Skinning the body.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933731477963874
And this a less gory picture: An unwanted guest:)
https://picasaweb.google.com/105090575539596312489/TheSacrificeDaySundayNovember6#5671933375644802162
All the events happened in one day and compared to the other people's cruel attitudes towards their "so-called-sacrifices" I was pretty glad to witness a good and a exemplary sacrifice ritual.
And finally I want to thank the lady who did all the things.
If you have any Qs, please write your comment.
Thank you.
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