The traditional lighting that hangs between the minarets of Turkish mosques, usually packed for evening prayers in the holy month of Ramazan, is urging Turks to stay at home this year as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic.

Known as “mahya”, the tradition of stringing up devotional messages in lights from the soaring minarets of Istanbul’s Ottoman-era mosques is unique to Turkey and dates back hundreds of years.

Suspended between the minarets, the lights normally declare religious messages in huge letters, visible from afar and intended to reward and inspire the faithful who have spent the daylight hours fasting.

This year, with Turkey at the peak of coronavirus outbreak at the start of the fasting month of Ramadan, the messages are different and urge people to stay at home.

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