TEHRAN - Iranian Kurds in the mountainous Uramanat region, which is a UNESCO World Heritage as well, gathered for the annual three-day Pir-e Shaliar festival, a centuries-old folk celebration honoring their legendary healer and mystic.

The festival, deeply rooted in pre-Islamic Zoroastrian traditions, took place this year from Wednesday to Friday, January 31 (10–12 Bahman).

The event, also known as the “Wedding of Pir-e Shaliar,” marks the anniversary of the revered sage’s symbolic marriage and is believed to bring blessings of fertility, prosperity, and abundance to the land.

More precisely, the festival began on Tuesday evening with the gathering and distribution of walnuts from Pir-e Shaliar’s orchard, a ritual seen as a gesture of community sharing and goodwill. Before dawn on Wednesday, village children carry the harvested walnuts door to door, receiving sweets in return.

On Wednesday morning, a number of villagers brought livestock such as cows and sheep to be sacrificed near Pir-e Shaliar’s ancient shrine. Traditional dishes made from that meat are then prepared and shared among attendees, reinforcing the festival’s communal spirit.

Narratives say that in ancient times, Shah-Bahar Khatoun, the beloved daughter of the king of Bukhara, was miraculously healed by Pir-e Shaliar, and in return, he was allowed to wed the girl.

Throughout the three-day event, a majority of the locals abandon their daily routines to fully dedicate themselves to the festivities. Traditional mystical chants, folk performances, and prayers fill the air as villagers and pilgrims from across the Kurdish regions gather to honor the memory of Pir-e Shaliar, whose legendary healing powers and spiritual influence are said to have sustained their ancestors through hardship.

People leave their terraced homes, where the courtyard of one is the roof of another, to observe the ritual. The dervishes of the area gather as the local drum, Daf, is played, swaying their long hair through the air as they chant and dance.

Recognized as an element of Iran’s intangible cultural heritage in 2018, the Pir-e Shaliar festival continues to serve as a powerful symbol of Kurdish identity and spiritual tradition.

The UNESCO-registered Uramanat has been a cradle of Kurdish art and culture from the days of yore. Stretched on a steep slope of Sarvabad county, the village is home to dense and step-like rows of houses in a way that the roof of each house forms the yard of the upper one, a feature that adds to its charm and attractiveness.

AM