Examples of Rituals Performed in the Context of the Death Tradition of the Kazakh People

Abstract

To reflect on death is to reflect on our life. Death is the final dimension of life and the moment of farewell on the journey of life. People think of this irreversible departure as a mysterious journey. For this reason, many traditions have developed around death. Death traditions of every society have undergone some changes and have reshaped over time. No matter how much the tradition of death has changed over time, it has always been difficult for those left behind to accept the event of death. For this reason, people try to accept the pain caused by this situation by mourning and lamenting. Kazakh people also reshaped the death traditions they had carried in the past after accepting Islam. In Kazakh culture, the deceased is buried according to religious procedures, and those left behind carry out death traditions by fulfilling their duties. After receiving the news of death, Kazakh people perform many traditional practices until the year of the dead ceremony is held. These are: asking for forgiveness, bemoaning, funeral house, announcing the news of the deceased person, lamenting, extending condolences, washing the corpse, funeral prayer, burial, funeral ceremonies on the third, seventh, fortieth, one-hundredth days and the last ceremony of the deceased person is a one-year-anniversary meal. The research aims to reveal some changes in the death tradition of the Kazakh people from the past to the present and to examine the social and cultural reasons for these changes. In addition, I used the comparative method technique in the study and examined the changes in the death tradition with this technique. Then, in my study, I examined the importance of the rituals performed in the context of the death tradition in Kazakhs regarding social value judgments and how death is evaluated withinsociety. I examined and evaluated the duties and responsibilities of relatives, friends, and loved ones in the performed rituals.