Ashura II, a photo from Tehran, East

Photographer's Note

This " thing " that you see is called " Alaamat " which means sign/ mark . Alaamat is the simbol of mourning ceremonies for Imam Hussein.(for furthur information on the subject, see: this picture

Procedure Process:
It's made of iron,the vertical elements are called " blade" & the tallest blade is called " main blade". during the the artisans write Qoran rimes, holy narratives, ... on the blades then wash them in Acid.then blacken them with a mixture of soot, oil & alcohol.after joining them together to make this whole, it's Decorated with special clothes, symbolic animal figures, Ostrich's feathers.... . more decorated, more precious, more expensive.

The Role :
it's an old tradition : a ( strong ) person takes the Alaamat & holds it over his shoulders & walks in front of the mourning group.it's not an easy task, & the Alaamat holders change their place after a while.

I offer this photo to who were killed yesterday in Iraq.

Dinyar, bazal, fireflyz, jaffry has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

JacquesLanctot (501) 2004-03-03 16:48

Very nice again, and it's a good idea to offer this picture to innocent persons that pay with their lives because other peoples want to impose their views.

Georges (11185) 2004-03-03 17:22

Bonne prise de vue effectivement la personne presente sur l'image donne cette dimension qui nous permet de bien evaluer les mesure.
Bonne presentation aussi bravo Fariba

Schultzy (5446) 2004-03-03 17:41

Une "tranche de vie" bien saisie une fois de plus fariba. Nous allons grace à toi, tes photos et tes notes, disposer d'une véritable encyclopédie sur l'Iran !

dinaydase (651) 2004-03-03 21:25

Dear Fariba, I am learning more and more from your pictures. In Turkey, we donot mourn for the incident as much as you do but we do know about the incidents and feel sorry and pity for what happened. Also we use the words asura and alamet . Even during asura days, some families cook a kind of sweet dessert and distribute to the neighbours. Do you also do the same? Thanks...

snsk (796) 2004-03-04 1:45

again a nice iformative picture weldone,
to dinaydase about makeing some sweet things on ahura its called "Nazar" or "Niaz" it is nearly common in all muslim countries.

roshangar (1682) 2004-03-04 12:59

I like the shadow's of "Alaamt" in this pic ,very well.
As you know I don't like Ashura's day so I can't write more!!!

Jeppe (18654) 2004-03-04 13:21

Thanks for sharing the photos and your note Fabiba - This is thing known to me - nice to learn about ceremonies in other cultures.

PechePassion (483) 2004-03-06 1:35

"I offer this photo to who were killed yesterday in Iraq" => Merci pour eux encore des innocents mort pour rien et de en plus lors d'un jour particulier ..
le monde va mal ... (theme de ma photo de demain)

J'aime bien ces photo simple qui ont une histoire , c'est le vrai esprit TE .
Ca m'impressione de savoir que quelqu'un peu porté ca dans la rue car cela doit etre vraiment lourd !
Tu a sbien fait prendre la photo quand un homme passait car on peu juger de la taille de l'objet !

Combien de temps il porte le " Alaamat " ?

nwoehnl (122) 2004-03-06 9:01

This is another great learning experience, Fariba. Looking at your picture and reading your note taught me something new. I like the colorful scene here, and how the ostrich feathers seem to absorb the sunlight. Very good work, and thanks for your dedication.

bazal (7900) 2004-07-05 8:10

Very interesting picture and informative note. It's always good to see a beatiful image and to learn something by the same way ! Very well seen and presented !

fireflyz (2097) 2005-08-02 18:24 [Comment]