Bata ceremon Endowed with Divine strength

The ceremony of”bata”means blessing and prayer, which express the prayer and longing for a better life taking the form of blessing and prayer Bata pervades among Kirgiz people and has played an important role. Bata may be conducted by individuals or the community with various forms; Bata nowadays starts with chanting scriptures chosen from the Islamic Koran, which rites which are popular among people before the spread of Islamism in theyet undoubtedly a traditional custom developed from the original religion area.

Bata is widely spread in Kazak and Kirgiz people’s daily life so far, for example, the Dzanaza Bata(scripture given for a funeral) and Islamic Scripture Bata chanted for the soul of the deceased bata chanted during the 5 times of worship every day: Bata chanted before and after a wedding, a festival or a banquet, for donation and for slaughtering livestock for winter; before a person goes far away from home or a hero goes on an expedition, he/she shall also receive Bata chanted by highly respected elders. Kirgiz children shall receive Bata specially chanted for them to prevent them from disasters and wish them to grow up healthily and happily. a Kirgiz person will receive a great deal of Bata in his life and give other people much of it. It is believed that if one receives Ak Bata which is the best and sincere wish, everything will fall into his/her lap and the person will be as lucky as desired; and yet if one receives Teris bata which is bata of the curse and misfortune he/she will meet with a great many disasters and difficulties with everything going amiss with him. The content of Bata may be quite rich, part of which are religious doctrines and most of which are blessing words for people to express their best wishes such as prayers for human and animal safety, the happiness life of the folks, the health and longevity of elders in the family and that for the youth to constantly increase their knowledge. there are a great many of kazak people who are famous for chanting Bata and people of Kazak frequently invite persons such as elders with illustrious reputation, Bakse(the epic singer and wizard among the Kazak people), the Mullah(the scholar), the singers, theheroes, the elocutionists and the head of the tribe to hold Bata ceremony Those who are invited to the ceremony usually say impromptu blessing words, exhortations and poems, so there are a great many Bata words popular among the people which become part of the folk literature genres.

Let’s admire the Bata which is addressed by an elder for a newly born baby:

I hold your arms,

And fill your heart with light

I pray for the new-born

And give you my sincere blessing

May our precious baby be lovely,

And you shall be clever and sensible

You shall be as straight as the tall and straight poplar;

You shall make unremitting efforts and have a bright future

Amen

Let’s admire another bata for a new couple

Oh, may Allah bestow countless wealth on you

May your family prosper forever and livestock increase yea r on year,

May you live as long as the Southern

Mountain May your fat livestock are here and there

May you be generous and respected;

May profits pour in from all sides

May Allah bless you all the time

Oh, may Allah support you enrich your family

May you make friends with people like Kizil

May your sheep bear thousands of babies each year

May the rolling of milky tea and mutton in the pot be hear d constantly

May the bird of happiness fall onto your skylight

There is still another kind of bata called “bataaokeer which is the memorial ceremony for the dead. the relatives of the deceased shall bring livestock and wealth to condole with the family members of the dead on the first anniversary of the death, and invite religious people to chant Islamic scriptures to pray for the dead.

hancheng

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