Carpet washing is one of the traditional religious rituals of Iran, which has been registered in the UNESCO World Heritage List, and is held every year on the second Friday of October in the village of “Mashhad Ardahal“, and in October 1401, after a two-year hiatus due to the Corona virus, it came to life again.
According to the report of jahane-gardesh, quoted by Isna, the ritual of old carpet washers was not held in 1399 and 1400 due to the corona virus epidemic; The large number of participants in this ceremony and the fear of virus transmission prevented it from being held. Now, after two years of hiatus, the world-recorded carpet washing ceremony was held on the eighth of October in Mashhad, Ardahal, near Kashan, and a significant crowd participated in it.
The root of the carpet cleaner
Abbas Tarabzadeh, who was responsible for the preparation of the carpet washer ritual file for the UNESCO world registration, told ISNA about this ritual: In the first or third year of the Hijri, Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) invited one of his sons to preach to the people of Fin Kashan. They sent to this city, because of the popularity of the son of Imam Muhammad Baqir (AS) among the people, he was martyred by the ruler of that time. The people of Kashan learned about this incident after his martyrdom. For this reason, they wrapped his body in a carpet and took him to the water stream near Imamzadeh Shahzad Hossein and bathed him, then brought him back and buried him. After this incident, the establishment of the religion of carpet washers was established in Mashhad Ardahal.
Of course, there are various narratives about the ancient religion of carpet cleaners, and some researchers and writers trace the history of carpet cleaners to ancient Iranian rituals, or consider its origin and origin from ancient Iran, in some cases, they have not considered carpet cleaners to be unrelated to the mourning of Siavos. It is also possible that some previous beliefs and rituals of Iranians have been mixed or replaced with Islamic religious customs and beliefs over time.
Rituals of holding carpet cleaners
This ceremony is performed in three parts: the first part is a symbol of the saga of the people of Fin, which happened to help Imamzadeh in the war with the rulers of the time, but they arrived when three days had passed since the martyrdom of that Imam. Meanwhile, the people each hold a stick in their hands and gather in the central courtyard or Imamzadeh of Sultan Ali (a.s.) * and the second group joins the hands of the central courtyard with special rituals in the courtyard of Prince Hossein. After reciting the prayer and praying, the representatives of Khave Ardahal village will hand over a carpet wrapped in black cloth from the sacred courtyard of Imamzadeh to the believers and the people of Fin, which is a symbol of the same holy carpet in which Imamzadeh’s body was wrapped during his martyrdom.
The bearers of the holy carpet brought it from Ivan Safa into the central courtyard, and Hossein Hossein Gyan and by waving their sticks depicting the symbolic battle with the killers of the Holy Prophet, then they take the carpet to the water stream next to Prince Hossein. They wash it. The symbolic washing is in the way that they hold their sticks in water and sprinkle them on the carpet, and after that, the people of Fin bring the sacred carpet to the Safa court and hand it over to the servants of Imamzadeh with special ceremonies. The noon call to prayer ends the ceremony.
The mausoleum of Sultan Ali bin Imam Muhammad Baqir (AS) is one of the historical monuments of Isfahan, whose history is attributed to the Seljuk period, which was repaired during the Mughal, Timurid, Safavid and Qajar periods.
Global registration of the ritual of carpet washers
Two works of traditional skills in the weaving of Kashan carpets and the traditional religious rites of Mashhad Ardahal carpet washers were registered in the list of intangible world heritage in the years 2009 and 2011 as representative works and in need of immediate protection.
Trabzadeh – the person responsible for compiling the case for the global registration of the carpet washing ritual – also told ISNA about the reasons for the global registration of this ritual: one of the important indicators of the carpet washing ritual is its transmission from generation to generation, its popularity, dynamism and liveliness, which is in the light of harmony and social unity and empathy. is formed It is in this sense that this ritual is interpreted as a peaceful gathering. Also, other areas of spiritual heritage, such as rituals of Muharram, sanctity of water, chronology and local calendar, the role of handicrafts and local knowledge have been included. The use of carpet, which is a cultural and local element and originated from local knowledge and skills, speaks of the love of the people of that time to Hazrat Sultan Ali and the sanctity of his holy body. Therefore, all these factors worked hand in hand until this cultural work was able to be registered in the list of UNESCO’s spiritual heritage, and finally, in December 2019, it was included in the list of intangible works of the UNESCO Scientific-Cultural Organization.
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