Tamkharit in Senegal
In the world, every country has its own ways to celebrate their New Year. The USA, especially New York they go to the Time Square to celebrate the New Year. But in countries that have many Muslims, like Senegal, they celebrate differently. For instance they call their new year “Tamkharit.” There is a special holiday food and many important traditions involved in the celebration that make New Year in Senegal fun and exciting.
First of all, we have to define Tamkharit. Tamkharit is an important festival when people cook a good meal, make good wishes for the New Year, and celebration in the street. It appears in different date in the year, because the Muslim’s calendar is based on the lunar calendar. When the day is coming, every house prepared for the big celebration. The main meal that they cook is “thiéré.” Early in the morning, all mothers go to the supermarket to buy some utensils for the food and some new stuff like dishes, glasses, etc. The teenagers prepare their drums to be ready for the festival. At noon, all the meal is done and the family is gathered in the house. Then, a few hours after, we pray at sunset and eat the “thiéré” until we are full. I remember one day my family and I was celebrating Tamkharit in our house in Senegal, with my mom serving the meal I was not hungry at all but then my mom forced me to eat. It was good when I tried it, and I started eat a lot until I couldn’t walk. And since that day I love celebrating Tamkharit because it makes me happy.
The second important thing to know is; when we eat a lot until we are full, everybody one by one has to take the plate and drop it on the floor. After they drop it, they have to make wishes because it’s the day that requires it. My grand-mother told me, “It’s a single day when God grants all wishes so you have to do it but when you finish it you will say a prayer to thank God for letting you live a long time”. I think it’s a main thing that makes the festival good because those beliefs make it fun. That is what makes the tradition good.
The third thing, after finishing eating, they rest a bit and the children go out to celebrate. This celebration is not the same like other traditions. Men are dressed like women and women like men. It’s not like a gay festival but they just celebrate it like the generation and generation before. They go house to house to collect money. They sing a traditional song when they are in the house and the man says “tajaboon” the woman replies” waley” according to my aunt they say good wishes to each other. This is kind of cool because that festival helps people be closer than ever. They forgive themselves in that day and wish themselves the best and to be present in the next Tamkharit. After that everybody goes home to rest because it was a fun and tiring day.
