Khoranj village is a village with legendary stones

The village of Khoranj in Piranshahr, due to its proximity to legendary and large stones, has become a target village for tourism and has been welcomed by domestic and foreign travelers and tourists. Khoranj village of Piranshahr is located at a distance of 40 kilometers east of this city, but the thing that attracts the attention of tourists and travelers is the presence of stones with large shapes and sizes located in the western part of this village.

Standing or lying stones that attract attention with special arrangements and each of them shows the shape of some animals such as elephant, eagle, turtle and dragon without being carved by hand.

Some stones weigh several tons, and there are places for people and animals to hide under them, and according to the villagers, there were springs flowing under them years ago and people used their water, but these springs dried up in the past few years.

These stones have a smooth surface and some of them have holes to collect rainwater, and trees and shrubs grew on the stones, mostly figs and mountain almonds, which are used by residents and even tourists during the harvest season.

There was a stork’s nest on top of one of the stones in the village, which seemed to be empty this year and its prey had not visited until now.

Khoranj village is located downstream of this set of stones, and village houses have advanced to near the stones, but the new buildings of the village could be seen in the lower part of the village and on the side of the village road that divided it into 2 parts.

From Khoranj village, there is a road to the east, part of which is asphalt and part is gravel, and its extension ends in a three-way, one of which leads to “Serey Maidan” road in Mahabad and the other to Naqdeh city.

After looking at the legendary stones of the village and taking souvenir photos and videos next to them, I continued my way to the inside of the village and in front of a shop there were some people from the village, and I joined them.

At first sight and from my accent, they understood that I was a stranger, I asked them about the legendary stones of the village.

One of them, whose name was Kak Ismail and who was also a bit humorous, started the conversation by saying that these stones were located on the outskirts of the village since ancient times, and the name of the village is derived from them, and in Kurdish, a place with stones is called Khoranj. .

He added: There are many legends about these stones, and some say: It seems that many years ago, an old woman entered this village one night and asked the villagers for help, but no one helped her, so she prayed for the villagers to turn into stones. .

Kak Ismail added: Others say that in the past, a loving couple was persecuted in the village and they prayed that the inhabitants and everything in the village would turn into stone, and as a result of their prayers, all the inhabitants and animals of the village would turn into stone. They became these giant stones.

He said: “Stones cannot be used in house building, and because they are hard and have holes in them, they are not useful in the mining sector either.”

Khoranj is a destination for domestic and foreign tourists

The villager of Khoranj village in Piranshahr said in an interview with IRNA reporter: Every year in different seasons domestic and foreign tourists visit this natural tourist attraction and some time ago a German tourist group came to our village.

Anwar Abdullahzadeh added: These German tourists said that they did not see such strange stones anywhere in the world, only in Africa there are examples of such stones on a small scale.

He added: Villagers have been neighbors with these stones and their beauty since ancient times, and they tell many stories and legends about them, which are mostly due to their mental curiosity.

He continued: Most of the stones have special names, and one of them, which is in the form of a person praying, is known as “Behrde Mullah” (spiritual stone).

He stated: In previous years, storks used to build nests on them, but for several years, due to the drying up of the springs around them and mining activities, storks do not want to build nests on them.

Abdullahzadeh said about the type and type of stones: The stones are granite and so far there are 2 mining units in this area of ​​Deir Karda mining workshop, but the stones are so hard that both workshops were closed after some time.

The legendary stones of Khoranj were registered as a natural work in the list of national monuments

The head of Piranshahr Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department said: The legendary stones of Khoranj village were registered in the list of national monuments in 1400 with the presence of cultural heritage experts.

Khoranj village has been selected as one of Piranshahr’s target villages for tourism and the presence of these stones and several other historical sites in this area add to its historical and touristic importance. Stones and several other historical sites in this area have added to its historical and touristic importance.

He added: The house of the lord of the village, the historic site of Plasavi, the site of Ziveh, the site of Kani Nabi and Gard Khezineh are among the historical hills on the edge of this village, all of which were registered in the list of national monuments.

Bashiri asked the tourists and visitors to the natural stones of Khoranj village and other historical monuments to refrain from destroying these monuments and writing memorials on them.

Criticizing the inscriptions on the stones of Khoranj, he added: inscriptions, arson and excavations, however small, can destroy these natural and national assets and take them out of the natural cycle.

Little by little, the sun was setting and the weather was getting dark, but it just became clear to me what precious works these legendary stones are, which were spared from the damage of flood, rain and erosion over many years, and now it is a pleasure for us to watch them.

At night, when a little moonlight and the light of the village houses on the edge of the Khoranj stones shine on them and the beauty of the legendary Khoranj stones is doubled, people unconsciously get the feeling that these stones are not earth and maybe they are meteorites that fell from the sky.

But the last point is that in addition to the existence of several writings in large dimensions on them, erasing the sentences by painting and destroying the stones again, there were traces of fire and even burning tires in a part of the area, which showed that there is still the necessary concern and motivation. There is not enough to preserve these precious natural monuments.

The guardians of the matter and the media should join hands to replace “non-harmful” and “responsible” tourism in nature with vandalism and unregulated and harmful exploitation.

The future generation of the country should know what values ​​are hidden in the precious history and nature of this land; So that the children of this land may step cautiously on its holy threshold and protect them with their heart and soul and refrain from doing any kind of damage to the historical and natural identity of this land.

Maybe in a not so distant time, people realized the importance of tourism of the legendary stones of Khoranj village, and the economy and income of the people of this village revolved around these stones.

Khoranj village with 750 people is located 40 km east of Piranshahr, 30 km north of Naqdeh and 50 km west of Mahabad.

Piranshahr is located in the south of West Azerbaijan, and in this city, 157 historical monuments and 2 natural monuments, including the stones of Khoranj village and Kharpap waterfall, were registered in the list of national monuments.