A place full of positive energy – Demir Baba, Bulgaria.
Religion doesn’t teach you to hate one another, it teaches you to spread the message of peace, love and living together in harmony. And that is what the Tomb of Alevi saint Demir Baba is all about. It is a haven for spiritually inclined people. Demir Baba Teke is a mausoleum, the resting place of the Iron father Demir Baba. Alevism is a more tolerant branch of Islam where the followers are not expected to visit mosques and follow rituals but focus on inner growth and spiritualism. It is also extremely tolerant towards other religions and beliefs.
How to get there
Located in Northeastern Bulgaria, the place is extremely well connected by road. An Ideal scenario would be having your own car or renting one since travel by local transport is going to take away a lot of your time.
The best route is to get to Razgrad via the E70, take the 205 to Isperih and follow the directions along the 23 on the way to Ruse. Make sure you look for the turn to get off the main road to reach the place. Give and take its roughly 170 km and around two hours from Varna.
When to go
Barring winters anytime would be a good time to go since Razgrad region is known to receive some heavy snowfall during winters.
Footwear
Make sure you have a good pair of walking shoes on, the place is located in a small valley and one has to take a long flight of stairs to get there and back up again.
The place
It is said that the teke is built over a Thracian sanctuary and records also suggest the presence of a Christian chapel and a monastery. The Alevi turbe was built in the 16th-17th century in honor of Demir baba whose grave is located there. Christians, Muslims, and people from other religions visit the place with an open mind known to have healing powers.
As one gets down the stairs you can see colorful pieces of cloth tied along the railing and the trees. Once you enter through the main gate on the left is a clear water spring which has its own story of origin. During a period of drought Demir Baba touched a rock with his palm and the spring erupted. It is known as the five fingers (Besh Parmak) spring and is supposed to have healing powers.
The mausoleum has a rectangular entrance and the grave is present in the center of a heptagonal structure with a hemispherical dome on top. There are many mystical stories which surround the place and there are certain rituals that people carry out in a hope that they will have a long and healthy life.
Adjacent to the outer wall of the structure there is a stone which is slightly slanted. You have to sleep on it with your head pointing downwards and get up without the help of your hands touching the stone. If you are able to do it, you will have a long healthy life. ( what I found out was you need immense core strength to do it :)).
What intrigued me the most was people walking towards the wall with two holes in it. They had their hands raised up and two fingers pointing towards the stone wall with their eyes closed. Legend says that those are the eyes of a witch and people who are righteous will be able to stab them. Looking at the odds I thought no one would be able to make it, but It was surprising that a couple of people actually managed to do it.
Right next to it, there is a slit in the wall and women are seen throwing small stones at it, if the stone stays in the woman will be blessed with a child. In the courtyard you can see a stone with a hole in it. People bring pieces of cloth from their garments and pass it through the hole. If you have a particular ailment tie the cloth around the affected area. Say if you have headaches around your head. With the tied cloth you can walk out from the small door at the right of the teke and trek up a small hill. On the way you will come across colorful strips of clothes, socks, and kerchief tied all around by people in a hope that they will get rid of the ailment. One can see these pieces tied on the windows of the mausoleum as well.
As a part of the ritual you will see many people wash their face in the spring water and drink out of it. The water is extremely clean, rather so clean that in most of my photos I was unsure if there was water present or not :). It’s cold and refreshing with supposed healing powers. Also throwing small change in the water for luck is not a bad idea.
I also heard that the place is known to cure people with joint pains. On a specific day of the year people are known to travel to the place and spend the night there. Your body absorbs the Iron and helps you cure your joint pain.
Before you go on your way out do visit the small museum within the yard dedicated to Alevis and Demir baba. It’s worth knowing that Demir Baba is a Cultural monument of local importance.
Demir Baba can be combined with the Thracian tombs of Sveshtari, a UNESCO world heritage site about 3 kms away. More about them in another post 🙂 Till then keep exploring, traveling and going off the usual track.
