Çorum İskilip Rain Prayer

This prayer is a mixture of the old religious beliefs of Turkomans and Muslim beliefs. It is a traditional, cultural and social activity. Rain prayers are commonly and regularly held from Western Anatolia to Easter İskilip. Apart from a religious activitiy, this is a community organization compared to other religious activities. It is performed in several ways.Some of them are as follows:

People climb a 1330-1500 meter high mountain which is believed to be auspicious to sacrifice a camel. This mountain is the symbol of dignity in the region. For example, people climb the mountain which is 1350 meter high in İskilip Region. People say that the Deveci Mountain desires a sacrifice in the dry season. With a lof of participation of people, they sacrifice a camel. The hodja climbs on a big rock on the mountain and he wears his long and black gown. He turns his palms towards the soil in contrast to the usual worship. The participants do the same. They pray and the ceremonies are enthusiastic.

In another way : Some say that rain prayer is performed with  71 or some say 71.000 stones.  ( In the Middle Anatolia it is 71000 stones.) As it is mentioned about the holy stone “Yada” or the holy stone “Yeşim” in pro-islam period. These stone represents the divinity. Hodja prays for each stone and put aside. When he finishes, he puts them in a bag and they are thrown into water one by one. The stones which are believed to be magical and fortunate brings fertility, rain and wealth. Rain comes from mountain slopes and rivers.  If it rains too much and damages  homes, neighborhoods, streets, the sharp side of axe is stuck in the ground. It is believed the power of the rain is believed to reduce  in this way.