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Jankele – Weird, Crazy, Creepy And Playful
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Jankele – Weird, Crazy, Creepy And Playful

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While most people know the “busós” from the annual Busó festivities (Poklade) in Mohács, Southern Hungary, the figure of the “jankele” is an extremely interesting one as well. Personally, I’m more interested in them. First, because they are crazy, playful, creepy, loud and simply weird and second, because there are very few of them. In the distant past, traditionally children dressed as “jankeles” until they became old enough to dress as “busós” (normally around their teen ages or older), but these days, every boy wants to be a busó. The “jankele” though had a very important role during the multi-century-old tradition of the Busó festivities (“Busójárás”). They kept the crowd away from the busós, avoiding people grabbing them, removing their masks or simply made way for them. Jankeles are dressed in rags, wear costumes, hide their identities, and carry sacks filled with feathers, hoot, flour and small rags. Fortunately this tradition is coming back more and more vividly, and I’m forever grateful to my friends dressing up as jankeles to make it possible for me to shoot from such close distance.

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    Zsolt Repasy

    Zsolt Repasy

    Author, Community member

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    Photographer focusing on documenting and presenting cultural heritage. Have extensively travelled in South East Asia, across Europe and also ventured off the beaten track in Africa, (Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda). Currently the main focus are the Buso traditions in Mohacs, and the lives of the traditional shepherds in Hungary.

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    Zsolt Repasy

    Zsolt Repasy

    Author, Community member

    Photographer focusing on documenting and presenting cultural heritage. Have extensively travelled in South East Asia, across Europe and also ventured off the beaten track in Africa, (Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda). Currently the main focus are the Buso traditions in Mohacs, and the lives of the traditional shepherds in Hungary.

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    Louiiiise
    Community Member
    7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Very interesting. Can you explain a bit more please? I'm sure many on bored panda aren't familiar with Hungarian folklore.

    Louiiiise
    Community Member
    7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Very interesting. Can you explain a bit more please? I'm sure many on bored panda aren't familiar with Hungarian folklore.

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