DOHA

- After an absence of two years due to the precautionary measures related to the Corona pandemic, the song of the Garangao celebration returned again in Qatar and all the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in the middle of the blessed month of Ramadan.

Big and small are waiting for him every year.

The Garangao song is a distinctive sign of this celebration and one of the most important folk traditions, as it says, "Garangao.. Garangao.. Give us. God gives you.. The house of Mecca will give you.. O Mecca, O world.. O mother of chains and gold, O Noura.. Give us of God's money. ...Abdullah delivers to you..Give us a bead of scales..Gives you two dear ones..Oh my daughter, O beloved..Abuj opens its door..The door of generosity is not denominated..and does not place a gate for it."

Garangao is a celebration held by Qatari and Gulf families on the middle of Ramadan night in honor of the children and to reward them for completing the fasting half of the holy month, and to encourage them to continue and persevere in fasting the remaining half.

The reason for naming the night of Garangao is due to the Qara Al-Ain in this month. “Al Qara” is the beginning of something, and it is said that over time the word has changed and became Garangao, and it is said that it is a metaphor for children knocking on doors that night.

The celebration of Garangao is not limited to Qatar only, but the entire Gulf community participates in this celebration, and the children go out after breakfast to the “Al Furjan” (neighborhoods) carrying bags of cloth with which they roam the nearby houses and knock on the doors in order to fill the bags with them with various Kinds of sweets and nuts that are specially prepared by the people a few days before this occasion.

Garangao is a celebration held by Qatari and Gulf families in honor of children (Al-Jazeera)

traditional clothes

On the night of Garangao, children come out wearing traditional clothes with a special Gulf character and wear the “gahfiya” over their heads, a hat that is usually embroidered with silver threads.

As for the girls, they wear the “zari dress” over their normal clothes, a dress that radiates colors and embroidered with golden threads, and they also put the “bakhq” to cover their heads, a black cloth adorned with golden threads at the ends, in addition to some traditional ornaments.

The bags that children usually carry on this night are called “the map” in Qatar, and it is similar to the “makhalla” or the “Kharj.” It is the bag that is attached to the neck and hangs from it. It is usually made of cloth, and in some areas of the skin.

Families are preparing before the mid-night by preparing large baskets called in the Qatari dialect “Al-Jafran” and filled with nuts, which are eggs, pistachios, cashews, raisins, almonds, walnuts, walnuts, and candy bars, in preparation for the coming of the children that night.

Khalfan: The Garangao Festival included many children's favorite paragraphs (Al-Jazeera)

big festival

During a large festival held by the "Al-Arabi" club in Doha, hundreds of families flocked to the celebration headquarters to participate with their children on this occasion dear to their hearts, while many official institutions in the country were keen to participate also by distributing Garangao gifts to children.

Habib Khalfan of the "Caring Touches" team involved in organizing the festival says that Garangao is a very old popular celebration in which sweets are distributed to children, to encourage those who were able to fast the first half of Ramadan and urged them to continue fasting the rest of the month, pointing out that there are slight differences between countries Cooperation Council in the celebration of Garangao.

Khalfan added - in a statement to Al Jazeera Net - that the festival, which was held in the "Al-Arabi" club, included many paragraphs, the most important of which was the Garangao song, multiple competitions for children, and many popular popular games that are popular with children, as well as cultural competitions for adults participating in the festival.

As for the researcher in Qatari folklore, Abdul-Aziz Al-Bohashem Al-Sayed, he confirmed that Garangao is an inherited occasion in which children rejoice, as they move between the Ferjans in which they live, and the people prepare for this happy night with nuts and sweets in order to make the little ones happy and bring joy to their souls.

Several government agencies participated in the celebration by distributing gifts to children (Al-Jazeera)

Institutions sharing

Al-Bohachem Al-Sayed added that after the Maghrib prayer, the children move with their adult siblings to the houses near them and “clatter” and sing some songs, pointing out that in recent years the celebration of “garangao” has become more radiant, as some institutions participate in this occasion and distribute the garangao to children. In different ways, through festivals, whether in the Cultural Village Foundation "Katara" or in some other cultural institutions.

The researcher in folklore called for the preservation of the Garangao heritage, considering it a beautiful heritage that brings joy to our children, and contributes to providing them with ancient folk skills, as well as introducing community members to the past of this celebration and its value to Qatari society.