Qalishuyan also known as Ghalishuyan, is a carpet-washing custom practiced in honor of Imamzade Sultan Ali.
Qālišuyān rituals are performed in Iran among the Kasan and Fin people.
As legend tells it, he was martyred, and his body was found in a stream, washed, and buried by the inhabitants of Fin and Xāve. Currently, Soltan Ali mausoleum is the scene of a ritual where carpets are washed in the holy stream by a large crowd.
Since Sultan Ali was killed on the second Friday of the Iranian month of Mehr, people have flocked to Mashhad Ardehal in their thousands each year to mourn and commemorate this event.
Many pilgrims even walk from places that are far away to the shrine. They then leave the shrine with remnants of a sacred carpet wrapped around the body of Sultan Ali. Symbolically beating the carpet remnants with long sticks, they express their hatred toward the enemies of Sultan Ali. They demand revenge for Sultan Ali's martyrdom, and their hatred is shown towards his enemies as well.
At the beginning of the ceremony there is a ceremony where no outsider is allowed to touch the remains of the carpet. Worn in black clothing, the pilgrims sing religious songs, cry, beat their chests, and rotate their sticks as a symbol of grief and mourning as they move the carpet around the yard.
A ritual is performed on the nearest Friday to the seventeenth day of the month of Mehr, according to the solar agricultural calendar. The ritual is performed by the people of Xave at the mausoleum, sprinkles rosewater on the carpet, and then goes to the Fin outside.
During this ritual, the pilgrims were the carpet by washing it in a special stream of water near the shrine. Many pilgrims believed this made the water into holy water, and many applied it to their bodies and bottled it to take home with them. They then returned the carpet back to the shrine, and at noon there was a giant feast and thousands were fed for free. Finally, the pilgrims returned home.
Even so, both Kashan and Naschalg participate communities have preserved their oral traditions, but they've also revitalized them by adding a festive element. By keeping the oral transmission of the ritual procedures, both communities recreate the tradition by incorporating new and festive elements. As of today, the Na'alg people contribute a prayer carpet, while the Kasan contribute a prayer carpet.
References
(https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/qliuyn-rituals-of-mahad-e-ardehl-in-kn-00580) (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qalischuyan) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashhad_Ardehal) |Subject=Belief, Ritual |Country=Iran |SDG=(11) Sustainable Cities and Communities }}