Dodola and Peperuda

The rainmaking custom belongs to all the
Balkan peoples. Dodola is the participant's
main name in Serbia. In Bulgaria, she is
usually called Peperuda. Similar names
exist in Albanian, Greek, Macedonian,
Romanian, Romany and Vlach. There are
fascinating theories surrounding the
origins of the customs and the names.

These photos of girls involved in rainmaking
in time of drought were taken in 1957, in the village of Banja Koviljača in Western Serbia. They form part of the collection in the National Ethnographic Museum, Belgrade.

Go to the essay 'Dodola and Peperuda (The Balkan Rainmaking Customs) '

The name Peperuda is thought to derive from that of the Slavonic god of rain and storms, Perun. He had a similar sounding name in Baltic languages: Perkunis or Pergunas. These names are equivalent to Zeus,
Jove, Thor, etc.

So Peperuda is construed
as the bride, or perhaps
handmaiden, of the god
of the rain and storm.

The name Dodola is more difficult to identify. The most acdepted theory, put forward by Roman Jakobson, is that it is cognate with non-taboo epithets for 'thunder' in Baltic languages (such as dundulis in Lithuanian), with the meaning of 'rumbling, pealing', and an onomatopoeic effect in the reduplicated 'd'.

According to Jakobson, these names reveal a prehistoric origin.

Curiously, in Bulgarian,
the word peperuda also
means 'butterfly'.

In Dalmatia, the custom involved boys rather than girls - as it did in Albania and northern Greece.