Selam,

I*ve just beeen in a funeral and I was wondering how is it in Turkey.. pls tell me and I'll b happy (: I'm really curious about it, as well as about turkish weddings..

I haven't seen a funeral since a very long time, but here is how it goes from my experience:

- The body of the dead person is washed in a mosque.

- It is put in a white cloth that completely wraps and covers it (kefen).

- Body in th ekefen is carried to the graveyard, in a coffin. A funeral procession walks and people take turns carrying the coffin.

- There is a special prayer for the dead person led by the priest (imam). This is performed in the graveyard, or in a mosque before coming here. The priest asks the crowd after the prayer, "What kind of a person was he-she?" and the crowd answers "We knew him-her to be good". Priest asks, "Do you forgive him-her about the issues with you?" and the crowd answers "Yes"

- Then, the coffin is taken to the grave and the body is buried in the kefen without the coffin. People close to the dead person throw the first pieces of soil into the grave and then the body is completely buried.

- Praying is very important. People pray for the soul of the dead person during the whole event and after. The graves are visited mostly on the bayram's eve days - twice a year. Of course, there is no restriction on how often you do this.

About weddings, I can give a better description after a month or so, I will see a wedding in Turkey soon

Sorry for such question, but I keep on wondering what do they do with the coffin after the body is buried, if it is burried without a coffin?

Coffin is not something you buy, it is rented and used just for carrying the body in 'kefen'. After the funeral, it is used for other people.

hocam, yanlis bilgi..
kefen oluyle beraber gomulur... kefen baskalari icin tekrar kullanilmaz..
tabut baskalari icin kullanilir..

I didn't mean to say that kefen is reused (kefen is the white cloth the body is completely covered with). The body is buried covered with the kefen. The 'coffin' (tabut in Turkish) is reused. I think I was not clear enough

Although I agree with admin, we should wind up this kefen-coffin disagreement with a Nasreddin Hodja's joke. Let's read and smile.

WHERE TO GO
The people asked the Hodja,
Dear Hodja, tell us, where should we go in a funeral procession, in front, at the back, or at the side?
The Hodja answered, It doesn't matter where you go, as long as you don't go in the coffin.

i was wrong sorry

My sister (english) got married to her Turkish boyfriend in Antalya 2 weeks ago. We had a multi-cultural wedding to incorporate both English and Turkish custom but from our experience the following:-

Actual ceremony was very quick. The registrar comes and writes the details into the book of marriages and then leaves very quickly (he was with us for 15 minutes only). The rings were tied together with red ribbon which was cut by my father. Gifts were also given to the bride with red ribbon tied to them. After signing the book, we had pictures with all families. We then had some food and fruit to celebrate which ended with some turkish dancing. During the dancing the ribbon from the rings was cut into small peices and given to the unmarried guests. After this time, money was pinned to my sisters wedding dress and the groom paid my family for my sister (I hear this is traditional).

It was a lovely ceremony and not too different to weddings we have here in England. I look forward to another one!

Let me invite some of you to one of Turkish Wedding central Anatolia.We have really different weddings.All parts of Turkey have their own way to celebrate.I suggest you,if possible,pls watch Düğün TV or come immediately Turkey just to see one of wedding.Its fantastic