How is the thousand-year tradition of “carpet washers” celebrated?

The traditional-religious ceremony of Qalishov is one of the thousand-year-old traditions, showing the martyrdom of Sultan Ali bin Muhammad Baqir (AS) in the year 113 AH and the way of burying this imamzade Jalil-ul-Qadr by the people of Fin Kashan, which is held every year with special prejudice and pride.
The traditional-religious ceremony of carpet weavers is one of the centuries-old traditions that is held on the second Friday of October every year in Mashhad, Ardahal, Kashan. It has been nearly a decade that the Mashhad Ardahal Kashan carpet washing ceremony has been registered as an intangible cultural heritage, and these days it is one of the ceremonies that many tourists come to watch when it is held.

This ceremony shows the martyrdom of Sultan Ali bin Muhammad Baqir (AS) in the year 113 of the Hijrah in the land of Mashhad, Ardahal, and the way of burying this imamzade Jalil-ul-Qadr by the people of Fin Kashan, which every year with special prejudice and pride, usually on one of the 9th to 15th days of October. It is held which is known as carpet cleaners day.

A week before the carpet washing ceremony, usually on the first Friday of the autumn season, the jar ceremony is held in Kashan. This Friday, which is known as Juma Jar among the Kashanis, is the day when people are invited to the carpet washing ceremony in Mashhad Ardahal.
Jumajar is a herald of the arrival of the martyrdom anniversary of Dasht Ardahal, Imamzadeh Mazloum, Hazrat Sultan Ali bin Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) and the promised day for the gathering of the Finni clan.
Every year on Juma Jar, a few Jarchis walk from the villages of Kashan in Fin neighborhoods and Bazar neighborhood of Kashan and Khave village, and patrollers, according to the tradition and tradition of their ancestors, with a loud bang and a special song, warn the people of the coming of the promised day of carpet washers and the week. The visit of Imamzadeh Sultan Ali (a.s.) is informed.

The news of Juma Qaliwashiyan quickly spread by word of mouth among people of all walks of life, bazaars, artisans, and peddlers, and in less than a day or two, it spread in all cities and villages, including the cities of Natanz, Qom, Mahalat, Saveh, Dilijan, Yazd, Ashtian, and Isfahan. will be By conveying this message, the pilgrims urge all people, especially the pilgrims and the sellers of Sahib Nazr, who must participate in the carpet washing every year, to make an effort and provide tools and luggage for the pilgrimage and to prepare a place to live in Mashhad Ardahal.
The effort to travel is more impressive among traders and marketers of all strata.

Marketers and sellers compete with each other to sell their goods in Mashhad Ardahal and try to get a suitable booth or room in the bazaar or the Popek court or other courts before the start of the ceremony.
Determining the day of carpet cleaning and announcing it to the people is the responsibility of the headquarters of the traditional religious ceremonies of the carpet cleaners. This group usually determines the day of the carpet washing ceremony on the second Friday of autumn.

According to the old tradition, this jar ceremony still exists and is performed in the region. The poems that Jarchian read refer to the coming anniversary of Imamzadeh’s martyrdom and the curses they send to Imamzadeh’s enemies and killers. These poems are as follows: (O listeners, make a fuss about this will/ Make a noise and lament over Sultan Ali son of Zahra/ In the year 113 of the Hijra, certain Shiites/ moved towards Madinah out of sincerity/ They went to Madinah to serve Khosrow Khoban/ they said O Imam the fifth, O leader of the people/ We have no leader, O Muhammad, have mercy on us/ Let one of the light of your eyes flow with us/ The fifth Imam said, why did you bleed at the sight/ Surely you have fenced forty fences from the people of Fin and the people/ One of the light of his eyes flow with them. Kurd/ whose name was Hazrat Sultan Ali (a.s.) the new wife of Zahra/ that prince was three years old in Ardahal and Fin/ spring was in Khava, that winter was in the land of Fin/ the soldiers became aware of the murder of that lord/ in the name of Harith cursed and Zareen Kofesh Bad Akhtar / They surrounded that Khosrow with thirsty lips from all sides/ that this prince has the power and arm of Ali Akbar/ I came when he said, “May the good morning be with you once”/ Send greetings from me to the people of Fin and say to my friends/ First, to God, the judge of blessings/ secondly to the Messenger of God Sarmad, thirdly to Ali and his eleven children, to the pure son of Noor Ahmad, cursed to the cursed number in hardship and calamity, cursed to Harith Zarin Fash and Zayd Rafiun, cursed to the cursed number from Bahr Jafa, cursed to the cursed number Woe to the pious men. If you are tired, say Ya Ali. If you are weak, say Ya Ali. Go to Mashhad, Ardahal.

On the Friday of carpet cleaners, tens of thousands of men and women from the cities and villages of Iran, especially from the settlements on the edge of the desert, gather to attend the rituals of carpet cleaners and watch its customs in Mashhad Ardahal.

The desert dwellers of this region of Iran consider it their religious duty to attend the carpet cleaning rituals and visit Imamzadeh Sultan Ali (AS) at the beginning of every autumn. These pilgrims consider the reward of visiting Imamzadeh and attending the carpet washing ceremony to be equal to visiting the holy shrine of his great ancestor, Hazrat Imam Hussain (a.s.) and attending Karbala.

The ceremony begins in such a way that after the speaker’s speech, one of the elders or clerics from the Finns of Kashan gives the donation he collected from the Finns as a gift and sweets to the custodian or supervisor of the servants of the shrine and requests to bring a special carpet for Imamzadeh the martyr from Hazrat Mubarak Imamzadeh’s shrine. Sultan Ali (a.s.) does. The servants take out a wrapped carpet board with a piece of green cloth on it from inside the Imamzadeh shrine and hand it to the Finni elders, and then the Finni youths take it from the Finni elders shouting “Ya Hossein, Ya Hossein”; This carpet is a symbol of Imamzadeh’s pure body, and the carpet cleaners are like the body they want to bury.

Since the burial of Imamzadeh was done by the people of Fin Kashan; Therefore, during the carpet carrying ceremony, which is an allegory of the body of the Holy Prophet, it is done only by the people of Fin Kashan, and other people present can only accompany the carpet washers by mourning and beating their chests.

Under the protection of a crowd of men with sticks in their hands (sticks were a common weapon at that time), the young people pass the carpet through the crowd, sometimes on their shoulders and sometimes in their hands.

The mourners take the carpet from the same way they came with “Qadm Sa’i” that is, with fast and hasty steps and sometimes running and with noise and noise, to the source of Shahzdeh Hossein river, in the square in front of the shrine. This action is an allegory of Hagar’s efforts to bring Ismail to the water spring in the dry desert of Makkah.

In front of the group of carpet carriers, a middle-aged man from Chehl Hesaran Kashan is riding a horse. This man carries with him a cashmere knife on his right shoulder. This Janmaz is considered to be the embodiment and symbol of Imamzadeh Sultan Ali (a.s.), and this forty-year-old man is considered one of the descendants of Imamzadeh Sultan Ali (a.s.).

Following the deceased bearer, a group of people from the village of Khave Kashan mourn in front of the carpet and pull the science covered with green cloths. Finnis and the group of carpet carriers also leave the way in search of knowledge with the call of “Allah Akbar” and “Hussein, Hussain” and shake their sticks in the air one after another.

A group of young Finns move in sync with the group all the way and keep the passage open for the group to pass. Along the way, the sheep or calves that have been vowed are slaughtered and sacrificed at the feet of the carpet carriers.

The dust that rises into the air from under the pounding and hasty steps of the young Finns, remains like an angry army that has attacked the enemy’s castle and fortress with the intention of revenge and bloodlust.

Young people with spinning sticks in the sky, like waves behind this curtain of dust, move dynamically to reach the source of water. Carpet pullers lay the carpet on the ground by the stream and circle around the water and shake their sticks in the air one after another. At this time, i.e. before the symbolic washing of Imamzadeh’s carpet, the ceremony of cursing the enemies of the Prophet is performed.

After the washing rituals are over, the carpet is put on the shower again and taken to the Sardar’s Court or the Finnis’ Court through a passage at the foot of Ardahal Mountain that leads to the eastern door of Imamzadeh’s threshold. In bringing the carpet back to Astan, the people of Khave Kashan village and a number of Finnis, in a group ahead of the carpet carriers and wooden Finnis, beat their chests and sing a slow and heavy lamentation and take a breath. Stick to hand all the way by shaking their sticks and shouting and threatening, they keep people away from approaching the carpet and touching it.

In Sardar’s court (Amer bin Nasser), the Finnis go around the courtyard and around the wood, and then they take the carpet to the porch of the tomb. In the porch, some of the elders of the Finn and Khawe people, who are waiting for the carpet, go towards the carpet carriers to take the carpet, but the youths refuse to hand over the carpet and by shaking their sticks, they prevent the elders of Finn and Khawe from approaching the carpet. They remove the carpet. Finally, after many fights and in sensitive and noisy moments, under the call and shout of “Hussein, Hussain” and “Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar”, the elders of Fini take the carpet from the youth and hand it over to the representatives of Khavei. The Khawaites take the carpet into the shrine with special ceremonies and respect and submit it to God.

The ceremony of carpet cleaners of Mashhad Ardahal ends around the afternoon in an atmosphere filled with sadness and regret and in front of thousands of tearful eyes.