Ramazan Mosque Illuminations
"Mahya"
 In Ottoman times the month of Ramazan was a
festive time when people fasted and prayed by day, and after breaking their fast at dusk
enjoyed the sights and entertainments of Ramazan by night. Religious worship was combined
with music, feasting, and performances of the Karagöz shadow
play. Torch-lit parties in the tulip gardens and moonlit boat trips up the Bosphorus with
songs and music were held when Ramazan fell in spring. Illuminations known as donanma
sometimes took place on the Golden Horn or the Bosphorus, but Ramazan in Istanbul was
above all symbolised by the mahya illuminations strung from the mosque minarets
and lighting up the night sky in beautiful patterns.
Mahya illuminations were created by hundreds of tiny lamps hooked to ropes stretched
between two minarets of a mosque in such a way as to write words of religious significance
or form pictures. This custom was based on the desire to express thanks to God for joy,
abundance and prosperity, to encourage the populace to perform the good deeds appropriate
to this holy month, and to instill in children a love of Ramazan.
Before the advent of electricity, preparing mahya was a complex and laborious job
requiring considerable skill. By means of boxwood rings, pulleys, hooks, ropes and other
equipment the many hundreds of lamps were arranged in different patterns from just after
the Ramazan evening meal known as iftar until the end
of the teravih prayers, a period of at most two hours. When Ramazan fell in
winter, the mahyacı had to put up with bitter cold on the minaret balconies to display
his skills, so it was a job only for dedicated enthusiasts. They spent the entire day
preparing for that evening’s new display, first sketching the design on squared paper,
and then calculating the number of lamps needed, and the positions of each lamp on the
different ropes, which were then marked by knots. They rehearsed to check that all would
go smoothly on the night, filled the lamps with olive oil, prepared wicks made of
pistachio stems or baked reeds wound in cotton wool, and placed the lamps into their round
holders.
 As the hour of iftar drew to an end, he
would climb up to the minaret balconies, light the lamps and begin to let them out using
pulleys until they were all in place and the composition complete. There was fierce
rivalry between the mahyacıs of different mosques to produce the most impressive display,
and each evening’s new design was a jealously guarded secret. Crowds would begin to
gather as the first lamps were drawn into place, and try to guess what the finished result
was going to be: I think it’s a paddle steamer!, It must be the wheel of a
gun carriage!.
The larger mosques had special rooms where the paraphernalia of the mahya illuminations
was kept, and the job of mahyacı was passed down from father to son.
 Although the custom of lighting lamps is
common throughout the Islamic world, mahya illuminations are a tradition almost unique to
Istanbul, for the simple reason that only mosques which had at least two minarets could be
used. Royal mosques with two, four or six minarets are mainly located in Istanbul,
although there are some in Edirne, the former Ottoman capital, and mahya illuminations
were set up there as well. The oldest Edirne mahyacı whose name is remembered is Hacı
Aliş Ağa (d.1668), who was known by the cognomen Mestî. He is said to have had poles
erected in the Maritza River across which he prepared illuminations known as askı
mahyası (suspended mahya).
Exactly when mahya illuminations began in Istanbul is uncertain, although one story
attributes the custom to the reign of Ahmed I (1603-1617). As the story goes, one Hafız
Kefevî, calligrapher and müezzin at Fatih Mosque presented an embroidered handkerchief
to the sultan at the beginning of Ramazan. Ahmed I liked it so much that he ordered the
design to be depicted in lamps hung between the minarets of his own Sultanahmed Mosque.
Ahmed Rasim (1864-1932) quotes this story from an old manuscript, Menakıb-ı İslâm, and
suggests that the word mahya might be derived from the Persian mahiye (of the
moon) or müheyya (prepared, arranged in a row). Old authors record that
Istanbul's famous mahyacıs would embroider their new designs on red, green and blue satin
and present them to the sultan, who would give his approval for the designs and reward
each mahyacı.
Most impressive of all the mahya displays were undoubtedly the moving illuminations
of Süleymaniye Mosque. One of these moving pictures
consisted of boats and fish moving in front of a bridge, across which a carriage passed.
When we remember that 122 lamps were required to represent a sailing ship and 198 a royal
barge, these moving illuminations must have required far more.
 On the Night of Power towards the end of
Ramazan it was customary to illuminate the minarets from the summit of the cone to the
balcony with vertical rows of lamps, a display known as kaftan giydirmek
(dressing in a kaftan).
An engraving in the travels of Salamon Schweigger, who visited Istanbul in 1578,
depicts a mahya illumination on a rope stretched between the minarets of two mosques.
Clearly then this custom predates the reign of Ahmed I. The 17th century Turkish writer
Kâtip Çelebi writes that in 1523 Grand Vezir Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Paşa ordered
mahya illuminations to be set up on the major mosques in the city.
Abdüllatif Efendi (d.1877) won renown with his depiction of a royal barge between the
minarets of Süleymaniye Mosque on the fifteenth night of Ramazan one year. The same
mahyacı was also called in for occasions other than Ramazan, and in 1867 wrote the words Long
live the sultan on the hillside behind Dolmabahçe Palace when Sultan Abdülaziz
returned from his state visit to Europe. In similar fashion he prepared an illumination
between ship’s masts in the Bosphorus when Khedive of Egypt İsmail Paşa arrived at his
palace in Emirgan.
By tradition the illuminations for the first fifteen days of Ramazan consisted of
words, and those of the last fifteen days of pictures. The writing was usually in the
sülüs or celi styles of script, and consisted of one, two or three words, the most
common being ‘Welcome Celebrated Ramazan", "May God Protect",
"Thanks be to God", "Allah", and so on. In 1911 non-religious slogans
came into fashion, such as "Hurrah for Liberty", "Assist Orphans"
"Do not Forget the Red Crescent", "Remember Aircraft", "Buy Local
Goods", "Long Live the National Pact" and "Long Live
Independence". The pictures usually included motifs from Istanbul life, such as
Kızkulesi (the Maiden's Tower), mosques, pavilions, bridges, caiques, sailing boats,
stars and crescents, fountains, birds and roses.
Many late 19th and early 20th century writers on life in Ottoman times have left
accounts of mahya illuminations in their own childhoods. For example, Sermet Muhtar Alus
recalls how children waited eagerly for the mahya pictures which began on the fifteenth of
Ramazan, and the pleasure they took in watching the paddle steamers, caiques, towers,
swings, cradles and other designs appear night after night.
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