Nakhl Gardani ( fa, نخل گردانی, ) or Nakhl Bardari is a

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...

religious ritual carried out on the

day of Ashura A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two s ...

for commemorating the

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet

Moḥammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

and third

Imam. ''Nakhl'' is a wooden structure used as a symbolic representation of the Imam's coffin and ''Nakhl Gardani'' is the act of carrying the Nakhl from one place to another, resembling an Imam's funeral. The ritual is carried out in many cities of Iran among them

Yazd Yazd ( fa, یزد ), formerly also known as Yezd, is the capital of Yazd Province, Iran. The city is located southeast of Isfahan. At the 2016 census, the population was 1,138,533. Since 2017, the historical city of Yazd is recognized as a Wor ...

, Taft,

Kashan Kashan ( fa, ; Qashan; Cassan; also romanized as Kāshān) is a city in the northern part of Isfahan province, Iran. At the 2017 census, its population was 396,987 in 90,828 families. Some etymologists argue that the city name comes from ...

and

Shahroud Shahrood ( fa, شاهرود, also Romanized as Shâhrūd, and Shahroud; also known as Shârūd) is a city and capital of Shahrood County, Semnan Province, Iran. Situated about an altitude of 1345 m, it is located at latitude 36°25'N, longi ...

Nakhl

''Nakhl'' (date palm) is a woody structure similar to a cypress tree in shape, symbolizing Husayn ibn Ali's coffin.

Dehkhoda Allameh Ali Akbar Dehkhodā ( fa, علی‌اکبر دهخدا; 1879–March 9, 1956) was a prominent Iranian linguist and lexicographer. He was the author of the Dehkhoda Dictionary, the most extensive dictionary of the Persian language pu ...

defines ''Nakhl'' as "a big, tall bier (coffin) to which are attached daggers, swords, luxurious fabrics, and mirrors." ''Nakhls'' are constructed in various sizes, from a simple ones carried by two persons, to huge structures "supported by hundreds of men". According to

Parviz Tanavoli Parviz Tanavoli (born 1937) is an Iranian sculptor, painter, educator, and art historian. He is a pioneer within the Saqqakhaneh school, a neo-traditionalist art movement. Tanavoli has been one of the most expensive Iranian artists in sales. Tanav ...

, an

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, ''Nakhl'' is a freestanding sculpture. The structure is called ''Nakhl'' since it is widely believed that Husayn ibn Ali's body was moved to the shade of a palm tree, after his death, or because his body was carried using a coffin made of branches of palm tree, "the only material available in Karbala" at that time.

Yazd's Nakhl

As a "symbol of social unity for a town, village, or district," many ''Nakhls'' and their associated rituals are seen in Yazd Province, located near the Kavir Desert, with every village having its own ''Nakhl''. ''Nakhl'' is often referred to as ''Naql'', i.e. "to convey carry and transfer," in Yazd and neighboring towns and villages. Yazd is described as "''Iran’s museum of mourning tools''" by

Jalal Al-e-Ahmad Seyyed Jalāl Āl-e-Ahmad ( fa, جلال آل‌احمد; December 2, 1923September 9, 1969) was a prominent Iranian novelist, short-story writer, translator, philosopher, socio-political critic, sociologist, as well as an anthropologist who wa ...

, and is the home to the largest ''Nakhl,'' which needs to be carried by "several hundred men". The 8.5 meters high structure, constructed in 1879, stands in Amir Chakhmaq square of Yazd city and is decayed and no longer used because of the safety concerns. In Ashura, Nakhl Gardani is held in different parts of Yazd. The most crowded and beautiful ones is held in Taft city.

Ritual

''Nakh-Gardani'' is the act of carrying ''Nakhl'', sometimes by "several strong men", on the Day of Ashura, as if it is Imam Husyan's coffin. The ritual, historically dating back to pre-

Safavids Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

(almost 450 years ago), is carried out at various places in Iran. People carrying the ''Nakhl'' on their shoulders are guided by the people standing on the Nakhl. The ritual is so common in Iran that in most parts of the country, either people have the ''Nakhl'' in their community or at least they know about it.

Gallery

Nakhl in Yazd.jpg, A Nakhl in

Nakhl Gardani - Mehriz - Ashura Muharram.jpg, Nakhl Gardani in Mehriz, Yazd. Nakhl Gardani Amir Chakhmaq Complex.jpg, Nakhl Gardani in Amir Chakhmaq Complex, Yazd, 2017. Mourning of Muharram in cities and villages of Iran-342 16 (66).jpg, Nakhl Gardani ritual in progress

References

{{reflist, 30em Religious rituals Yazd Cultural heritage