Carpet Washing Ritual Registered on Global List of Intangible Cultural Heritage
The carpet washing ritual in Mashhad Ardehal, central Iran, has been registered on UNESCO’s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
This is according to Hosein Yazdanmher, head of Kashan’s cultural heritage department who said the ritual had previously been registered on the national list of intangible cultural heritage.
He said the request for global registration of the ritual and the relevant documents were submitted to UNESCO in July.
The 7th meeting of the International Committee of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which was held in Paris on December 5, approved the registration, Yazdanmher noted.
The carpet washing ritual, which symbolizes a funeral held for Imamzadeh Soltan Ali (AS), a descendant of Imam Muhammad Baqir (AS), in the region of Mashhad Ardehal in the 8th century A.D., is annually on the second Friday of fall by the young men of the region.
During the ritual, a large carpet, which is kept at the shrine, is wrapped in green textile and delivered to the young men whirling sticks in the air. Reciting religious poems, they take the carpet to wash it in the Shazdeh Hossein Spring near the shrine. Afterwards, it is delivered back to the guardians of the shrine.
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He said the request for global registration of the ritual and the relevant documents were submitted to UNESCO in July.
The 7th meeting of the International Committee of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which was held in Paris on December 5, approved the registration, Yazdanmher noted.
The carpet washing ritual, which symbolizes a funeral held for Imamzadeh Soltan Ali (AS), a descendant of Imam Muhammad Baqir (AS), in the region of Mashhad Ardehal in the 8th century A.D., is annually on the second Friday of fall by the young men of the region.
During the ritual, a large carpet, which is kept at the shrine, is wrapped in green textile and delivered to the young men whirling sticks in the air. Reciting religious poems, they take the carpet to wash it in the Shazdeh Hossein Spring near the shrine. Afterwards, it is delivered back to the guardians of the shrine.
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