{"id":18470,"date":"2017-07-18T08:14:19","date_gmt":"2017-07-18T08:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/surfiran.com\/mag\/?p=18470"},"modified":"2026-10-30T06:39:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T06:39:56","slug":"qalischuyan-rituals-kashan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/surfiran.com\/mag\/qalischuyan-rituals-kashan\/","title":{"rendered":"Qalishuyan Carpet-Washing Ritual in Kashan, Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Qalishuyan<\/strong>, or the carpet-washing ritual, is an annual ceremony held at the mausoleum of Soltan Ali in Mashhad-e Ardehal, near Kashan in central Iran. It commemorates a local account of his martyrdom: according to tradition, his body was carried on a carpet to a stream before burial. Today, participants symbolically wash a carpet in remembrance of that story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Participants
Participants gather with flower-decorated staffs for the Qalishuyan ceremony.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The gathering takes place on the Friday closest to the seventeenth day of Mehr<\/em> in the Iranian solar-agricultural calendar, usually in early October. The date follows a seasonal tradition rather than a fixed day on the Gregorian calendar, so visitors should confirm the date for the year in which they plan to attend.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Men
Participants prepare the ceremonial carpet. Photo: Tebyan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The ceremony begins at Soltan Ali\u2019s mausoleum, where participants from the village of Khaveh prepare a carpet and sprinkle it with rosewater. After the ceremonial wrapping, they hand it to people from Fin, who carry it outside towards running water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The carpet is then returned to the mausoleum. People from Kashan also contribute a prayer carpet, while the community of Nashalg holds a related observance the following Friday. The participation of several communities is an essential part of the tradition\u2019s continuing life.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Crowd
A crowd carries the ceremonial carpet during the Qalishuyan procession.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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