Huzur-u Pir

By Pat Yale Nevsehir, "Hacıbektaş the heartland of Alevis" - Today's Zaman - Istanbul, Turkey
Sunday, August 10, 2008

Next weekend sees the generally sleepy central Anatolian town of Hacıbektaş spring to life for its 54th annual festival, a three-day jamboree that usually kicks off with some politicking before segueing into the fun part -- the singing and dancing.

For a small town, Hacıbektaş is surprisingly important, its importance lying in the fact that it is home to the shrine of Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli, a 13th-century Sufi thinker, originally from Khorasan in Iran, who arrived in what was then the village of Sulucakarahöyük some time between 1270 and 1280.

Here he developed a philosophy that emphasized the importance of science and reason and which allowed women an equal part in daily life; images of Hacı Bektaş usually show him embracing a deer and a lion, an allegorical rendering of his teachings about peace and tolerance (other images show him with a pigeon, the guise in which he is said to have flown to Anatolia).

When he died in 1337 he was buried in the village and as the influence of his writings spread, so the complex around his shrine grew. Today it is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Turkey.

Among the Alevis, the followers of Ali, a Muslim splinter group with perhaps 10 million adherents in Turkey, Hacı Bektaş is especially revered and the festival forms one of the highpoints of their calendar.

Unfortunately, at the moment the shrine and associated museum are being restored, making it hard to make much sense of what you see. Hacıbektaş is also one of those places, like Gallipoli, that you really need to visit twice: Once during the festival to soak up the atmosphere and again at another time when you will be able to look around in peace and quiet.

All things being equal, though, you approach the shrine via a gateway into a courtyard graced by a fountain with three waterspouts and a carving of a six-sided star.

From this first courtyard a small gate leads to the main part of the complex, a cloistered space containing a large (and currently empty) pool. Immediately to the right is a second lovely fountain, presided over by a carving of an amiable-looking marble lion which arrived from Egypt in 1853.

Two important buildings stand to the right of the courtyard. The first is the Aş Evi, or Cookhouse, which contains a number of oversized cooking pots, the most gigantic of them the Kara Kazan (Black Cauldron), which became very important to the Ottoman Janissary Corps, who would signal displeasure with a sultan by overturning a similar cauldron.

The second is a small mosque with a stubby minaret which was built in 1834 after Sultan Mahmut II had gotten rid of the Janissaries and closed down the Alevi/Bektaşı lodges.

On the left-hand side of the courtyard stand a guesthouse, bathhouse and laundry. However, the most important room is the Meydan Evi, an Alevi “cem” house where initiation and other ceremonies were carried out.

The focal point of this room is a stove with a 15th-century painting of Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli on the wall above it and a huge wooden throne beside it. Best of all is the fine wooden ceiling whose nine separate layers represent the nine levels of the heavens.

A small corridor leads to the third courtyard where a bust of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk commemorates the visit of the first president of the Turkish Republic to the town in 1919, on the eve of the War of Independence.

The third courtyard acts as a ceremonial approach to the heart of the complex, the shrine of Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli. Here, steps lead down to a corridor whose floor is said to cover the remains of the architect Yanko Medyan, who became an adherent of Bektaşism after falling from the roof and calling out to Hacı Bektaş for help.

To the immediate right of the steps is the oldest part of the complex, a small cell called a çilehane, or place of suffering, where the saint is thought to have spent long periods in seclusion.

An elaborately carved Selçuk-style portal leads through into the Kırklar Meydanı (Area of 40 Saints), a huge domed space which serves as a small museum, showcasing items associated with Bektaşi dervishes, including fierce-looking ear-rings worn by unmarried men, begging bowls and a traveling picnic set.

On the wall hang some fine examples of the sort of calligraphy that turns writing into pictures; in one particularly fine example a human face has been created out of the words for “Ya Allah, Muhammad, Ali.” The finest item on display is a 40-branched candlestick which was used in Bektaşi ceremonies.

A strikingly beautiful marble portal on the right-hand side of the door opens onto the room containing the shrine of Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli, otherwise known as Huzur-u Pir (the Presence of the Master), a particularly holy place where pilgrims will usually be praying.

To the left of the main entrance and up some stairs is the tomb of Güvenç Abdal, described in the Velayetname, the biography of Hacı Bektaş, as the most beautiful girl in the world.

Also in the third courtyard, tucked away behind an ancient mulberry tree, is the tomb of Balım Sultan (1462-1516), who became the second most important leader of the Bektaşi order. It is well worth popping your head in here if only to see a second, even finer 40-branched candlestick, its base supported on brass lions, its body decorated with brass pigeons and dragons.

Once you’ve finished inspecting the complex, it is easy to conclude that you have “done” Hacıbektaş, which is not a particularly prepossessing town.

In particular, the cultural center that was inflicted on it a few years ago is an eyesore of a white elephant, the echoing void of its lobby containing nothing more inspirational than two cases of costume dolls. Still, there are a couple of other sites worth seeking out, and these include the early 17th-century shrine of Bektaş Efendi immediately behind it.

Otherwise, walk down towards the Belediye building, passing a long line of stalls that sell Alevi/Bektaşı paraphernalia in a sort of Turkish take on Lourdes in France.

Just across the road from the Belediye, a house where Atatürk stayed in 1919 has been lovingly restored and boasts an especially gorgeous sitting room, with bench seats invitingly set up on either side of a table in a light-filled cumba (bay window).

If you continue down the road behind the Belediye you will also come across the town’s last remaining adobe houses, some of them centered on courtyards with porticos on each side, others with giant pots serving as literal chimneypots.

The restored Kadıncık Ana Evi (House of the Poor Woman) behind the graceful Akpınar Çeşmesi (fountain), where Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli is believed to have stayed, should be open to the public but probably won’t be.

The Kadıncık Ana Evi overlooks the Karahöyük (Black Tumulus) where the original settlement of Sulucakarahöyük stood from the Bronze Age until about the time of the birth of Jesus Christ. Finds from excavations on the hill are on display in the town’s small museum.

Where to stay
There is very little accommodation in Hacıbektaş itself. Most people stay in Göreme, Avanos, Üçhisar or Ürgüp and visit on day trips.
Evrim Hotel. Tel.: (384) 441 2900
Hünkar Otel. Tel.: (384) 441 3344

How to get there
There are daily dolmuş services to Hacıbektaş from Kırşehir and from Nevşehir via Gülşehir. It's a one-hour ride.