The Carpet Washing [Ghali Shuyan] Ceremony, one of the religious ceremonies of Shia Muslims, is annually held in Mashhad-e Ardehal, near the central city of Kashan.

People travel to the city to mourn and represent this event each year on the second Friday of autumn.

It is said to commemorate the passing away of a descendant of fifth Shia Imam Muhammad Baqir (PBUH) named Imamzadeh Soltan Ali. The ritual takes place at his shrine in Mashhad-e Ardehal.

To perform the ritual that annually attracts thousands of people to Mashhad Ardehal, young men gather at the shrine where its large carpet is wrapped in green textile and delivered to them.

Thereafter the young men take the carpet to wash it in a nearby spring while they whirl sticks in the air that symbolize the clubs (used as weapons centuries ago) and recite religious poems.

Back in 2012, the ritual was inscribed on the UNESCO’s representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

 

 









































































By IRNA