Burkut Baba is the Turkmen patron spirit (pir) of rain and thunder. Folk belief maintains that God placed the rains under his charge: he strides across the heavens, pushing the clouds forward with his staff and, when rain is needed, whipping them until the water falls. Dryland farmers appeal to him for timely showers and a good harvest. The figure is a Muslim-era continuation of a much older Central Asian sky-and-water patron, and stands beside Baba Daýhan in the peasant pantheon of tutelary elders.