Saya or Sayaqan is a summer feast and festival in Turkic Tengriism and Altai folklore. Arranged for the god that called Saya Khan. So this is a blessing, fertility and abundance ceremony.
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Saya or Sayaqan is a summer feast and festival in Turkic Tengriism and Altai folklore.
01 · What it is
Storytelling
Spoken epic, verse, ballad, proverb, or narrative transmitted aloud.
02 · Where & name
Turkey
Placed on record in Turkey.
03 · How it is doing
□□□□ (Not yet assessed)
Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.
04 · Proof & reuse
2 cited sources
Every claim links to a public record below. Free to quote, teach, and share under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Chapter Takeaways
DescriptionSaya (Zaya) was mythological male character associated with summertime in early Turkic mythology, particularly within Altai, Anatolia and Caucasus.
Saya Game / PlaySaya Play and songs have an important role in the emotional, and moral development of children in rural areas.
CelebrationThe Saya festival (literally it can be translated as abundance) is related to a cult of a solar deity, with a fertility cult.
Common Questions Answered on Record
What is Saya in plain words?
Saya or Sayaqan is a summer feast and festival in Turkic Tengriism and Altai folklore.
Where is Saya practised or documented?
Sources on this page place Saya in Turkey.
What is the current condition of Saya today?
□□□□ (Not yet assessed): Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.
How do I cite or share this Saya entry?
Cite as: "Saya." folkroom, https://folkroom.org/art-forms/saya, text CC BY-SA, with attribution.
Saya or Sayaqan is a summer feast and festival in Turkic Tengriism and Altai folklore. Arranged for the god that called Saya Khan. So this is a blessing, fertility and abundance ceremony. 1
Description
Saya (Zaya) was mythological male character associated with summertime in early Turkic mythology, particularly within Altai, Anatolia and Caucasus. He was associated with rituals conducted in rural areas during summertime. Turkic peasants celebrated the Summer Solstice on June 23 by going out to the fields.
In Anatolian folklore, a familiar spirit called "Saya Han" lived in mountains who protects sheep flocks. 1
Saya Game / Play
Saya Play and songs have an important role in the emotional, and moral development of children in rural areas. They learn about solidarity and co-operation. Also, an old tradition is continued with this game. Children wander homes and collect food, for instance. 1
Celebration
The Saya festival (literally it can be translated as abundance) is related to a cult of a solar deity, with a fertility cult.
Ancient Yakuts celebrated the New Year at the Yhyakh (23 June) festival. Its traditions include women and children decorating trees and tethering posts with "salama" (nine bunches of horse hair hung on horse-hair ropes). The oldest man, wearing white, opens the holiday. He is accompanied by seven virgin girls and nine virgin boys and starts the ritual by sprinkling kymys on the ground, feeding the fire. He prays to the Ai-ii spirits for the well-being of the people who depend on them and asks the spirits to bless all the people gathered. 1
The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Saya (folklore)”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. 1
Saya is summer feast and festival Turkic and Altai folklore, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. 2
The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. 2