The Lost Saint of Anatolia: A Compilation of the Khidr Legend

December 2021 - August 2022
Çorum, Sivas, Kırıkkale, Nevşehir
Field studies: Çorum, Sivas April 2022, Kırıkkale, Nevşehir May 2022

Anatolian region serves as a host for many religions, languages, ethnic origins, and beliefs. This fact creates an important cultural diversity in this land. The cultural diversity in our country, unfortunately, is evolving into cultural singularity day by day as a result of the policies pursued. Numerous cultural and artistic components fall into oblivion and are not transferred to the future. The research and compilation efforts for the cultural diversity in the Anatolia region are still far from adequate. Transmitting these cultural elements to the people via written and visual means will increase dialogue, tolerance, freedom of expression, and cultural diversity. The legend of Khidr has a cardinal position in Anatolia, crossing the borders of religious beliefs, it is one of the most important cultural figures of the region.

The general aim of this project is to guarantee that cultural elements arising from the cultural diversity in Anatolian region are not erased from the people's memory. On the other hand, the special aim of this project is to trace the legend of Khidr, which occupies an essential role in the Alevi beliefs. The myths about the cult of Khidr, which has a great place in the minds of the people of this land, was compiled by conducting field studies in the four cities. Collected legends was published as a book and a podcast series and “Khidr”, as a central cultural figure in Anatolia is transferred to the present and the future.

According to the legend, Khidr and Moses came to this place in Samandağ where this tree is located. Moses bent down to drink water and rested the stick he was carrying on the ground. When he looked back, he saw that the dry stick had come into leaf. It is believed that this tree developed into its present form over thousands of years.

Hacı Bektaş Veli Anatolian Cultural Foundation

Hacı Bektaş Veli Anatolian Cultural Foundation was founded in 1994 to preserve Hacı Bektaş Veli's thoughts and tenets. Today Hacı Bektaş Veli Anatolian Cultural Foundation conducts a variety of activities, ranging from cultural gatherings to political activism campaigns. Foundation holds two current goals. Primarly, the foundation aim to research, document, preserve and promote the cultures in the Anatolian region and stand against the standardisation of them. Further, besides defending the rights of the Alevi-Bektashi community, Foundation seeks to preserve and defend the human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Turkey, for every person, regardless of their identities.

This page is published on 10 January 2022.