7Berkeh – Raheleh Bahador: Two of the old local rites in Gerash known as Al-Ghouth religious recitation and Sang-Awi Grand Mosque Mourning were registered in the national list of intangible monuments of cultural heritage. The public relations of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization announced the latest list of intangible monuments in Fars province and the foregoing traditions from Gerash can be seen among them.
“Heretofore, 109 intangible monuments are registered as national heritage in Fars province and eight more are waiting in the list,” said Seyed Moayed Mohsennejad, general director of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization of Fars.
“Intangible cultural heritage are those cultural productions and procedures that have survived in the passage of time from previous generations. A part of these cultural properties are tangible products, such as buildings or artistic works; however, a main part of culture is intangible such as music, dance, drama, cooking, art, handicraft and various festivals,” said Seyed Afif-Oddin Zandavi, director of Cultural Heritage Office in Gerash.
“the age of mourning ceremony in Sang-Awi Grand Mosque is not documented since it has been passed down by words of mouth. We assume that it appeared in 1865, the same year that the grand mosque of Sang-Awi was built. According to the specialists and experts of cultural heritage, any monument, whether tangible or intangible, movable or immovable, that is seventy years of age, is precious.”
In Sang-Awi Grand Mosque, the rain is gathered in a huge bowl-shaped stone and the water is used to make sherbet in religious ceremonies. In September 2022, with the collaboration of the Environment Guard Association as well as some fans of cultural heritage, preparation of sherbet in this huge bowl-shaped stone was recorded in order to finalize the registration process of this mourning ceremony in Sang-Awi Grand Mosque.
Al-Ghouth ceremony came to the attention of the Cultural Heritage Office after a video of this event was published in 7Berkeh last year. In this ceremony, a person, usually an elderly or a trusted man or woman, puts a bowl of water in front of himself/herself and while the Islamic prayers of Jowshan Kabir –including a thousand sacred names of the God, with a famous refrain of “al-ghouth, al-ghouth”, literally meaning “I take refuge in you”- is recited, he/ she swivels a clean and unused string of beads (called Tasbih) in that water and makes it sacred. When the prayer is over, the water is given to the people there or to patients and people in need.
With the inclusion of these two cultural traditions, the total number of registered cultural heritage traditions and monuments of Gerash reached twenty-four.
