Dodola (also spelled Doda, Dudulya and Didilya, pronounced: doh-doh-la, doo-doo-lya, or dee-dee-lya), Perperuna or Preperuša is an old Slavic tradition.
According to some interpretations, she is the Slavic goddess of rain,[1] and the wife of the supreme god Perun (who is the god of thunder). Slavs believed that when Dodola milks her heavenly cows, the clouds, it rains on earth. Each spring Dodola is said to fly over woods and fields, and spread vernal greenery, decorating the trees with blossoms.
Croatian, Bulgarian and Serbian Slavs used to organise the Dodo-le (or Perperuna) festival in times of drought, where they worshipped the goddess and prayed to her for rain. In the ritual, young women sing specific songs to Dodola, accompanying it by a dance, while covered in leafs and small branches. In Croatia and Serbia today, Dodole is often performed by folklore groups.
In Croatian folklore of Turopolje on the holidays of St. Juraj called Jurjevo five most beautiful maidens are picked to portray Dodola goddesses in leaf-dresses and sing for the village till the end of the holiday.
Serbian ritual chant sung by youngsters going through the village in the dry, summer months.
Naša dodo Boga moli,
Da orosi sitna kiša,
Oj, dodo, oj dodole!
Mi idemo preko sela,
A kišica preko polja,
Oj, dodo, oj, dodole!
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