TEHRAN—Concurrent with the arrival of Muharram month, a certification has been issued for registration of Ashura-related ritual of Tazieh performance (passion play) of Karizno Village in Torbat-e Jam, Khorasan Razavi province, in Iran’s national tourism calendar under the number 104101071, said the head of Mashhad Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Department.

According to Miras Arya (CHTN), Faramarz Sabermoqaddam explained that the Tazieh performance in Karizno village is one of the greatest religious gatherings in the region. 
He also said that the event is held with the participation of people from Karizno and other urban and rural regions for three days annually. It starts a day before Tasu’a and continues until the night of Ashura, the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (AS).

“With the announcement of the policies for registering events in the country’s tourism calendar by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, in order to realize the issue of organizing and professionalizing event tourism, we are identifying, documenting, and preparing a file of Torbat-e Jam’s most important cultural and religious occasions with tourism potential.”

Given the importance of tourism events of Torbat-e Jam and public interest in these intangible issues, he said, the registration of cultural-religious values, particularly in the country’s tourism calendar and in the National Heritage List, is on a priority. 

Tazieh in Iran designates a traditional religious theatrical genre, essentially commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hossein (AS) and the passions of the Ahlulbeyt (members of the family of the Prophet of Islam). In this theatrical genre, the recitation of the lyrics, which are almost always in verse, takes precedence over the directing and the action.

Registered on UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, Tazieh is a kind of drama that recounts the brave war and martyrdom of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and other incidents that occurred on Ashura, the day Imam Hussein (AS) and his 72 companions were martyred by the oppressive Umayyad dynasty in 680 CE. Tazieh performance began during the Safavid era (1501-1736) and flourished during the Qajar era (1794-1925).

Tazieh presents religious events, historical and mythical stories and folk tales. Each performance has four components of poetry, music, song and motion.

KD