In this ritual, pilgrims run through the streets about 2–3 kilometers to the Imam Hussein (AS) holy shrine in honor of the run that maternal cousins of Hazrat Abbas (AS) did from the village of Tuwairij (today known as Al-Hindiya) to Karbala after the Battle of Karbala.
The third Shia Imam (AS) and a small group of his followers and family members were martyred by the tyrant of his time - Yazid Bin Moaweya, in the battle of Karbala on the tenth day of Muharram (known as Ashura) in the year 680 AD.
This year, the day of Ashura fell on Sunday, August 30.