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Jamkaran, Iran (on the outskirts of Qom) is the site of the Jamkaran Mosque, a popular pilgrimage site for Shi'ite Muslims. Local belief has it that the Twelfth Imam - a messiah figure Shia believe will will lead the world to an era of universal peace - once appeared and offered prayers at Jamkaran. This belief has been compared to that of Catholics who believe that the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepard children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917...While the mosque has long been a sacred place, sometime in decade of 1995-2005, its reputation spread, and many pilgrims, particularly young people, began to come to the mosque. In the rear of the mosque there is a "well of requests" where it is believed the Twelfth Imam once "became miraculously unhidden for a brief shining moment of loving communion with his Creator." Pilgrims tie small strings in a knot around the grids covering the holy well, which they hope will be received by the Imam Mahdi. Every morning custodians cut off the strings from the previous day. There is a significant body of Shia writing arguing that the Imam Mahdi is hidden but active in the world helping those who are needy.[citation needed] Every tuesday evenings the mosque kitchen provides a free meal to thousands of poor people...According to the mosque website, Sheikh Hassan ibn Muthlih Jamkarani recorded encountering the Imam Mahdi in 974 (373 A.H.) near a well where the Jamkaran Mosque is now located. The Imam Mahdi was also accompanied by Al-Khidr...One of the first acts of the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was to donate £10 million to the mosque, to fund plans to turn "the tiny Jamkaran mosque into a massive complex of prayer halls, minarets, car parks and ablutions." Jamkaran 13/11/07
Iranian troops parade outside the mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, during the Army Day memorial, 18 April 2006. Iran's armed forces must be at the ready and will "cut off the hand of any aggressor", the hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech to mark national Army Day. PHOTO:ALFRED..........
Iran-Shiraz ,. traditional wedding in Iran,Their dance is called the Halay-dance and its something for itself. After the men had made up their mind about the marriage, and the Mullah had blessed the couple, the wedding celebration started. Dressed up in beautiful costumes the Qashqai-women in Iran danced so beautiful as I never have seen before...If you go to the northern part of the Fars-province high up in the Iranian's mountains you will see qashqai nomads...The Qashqai are a Turkish-speaking tribe of pastoral nomads in southern Iran. They migrate between winter pastures near the Persian Gulf and summer pastures on the Iranian Plateau...the Qashqai-nomads take the wedding seriously. Sometimes it runs for 4 - 5 days which is usual for other nomad tribes too. They arrange separate dances for both men and women...The parents find the marriage partner to their sons and daughters. They make a deal with the other partners parents. Usually they marry with someone within the group. Before the finale decision is made the parents or represents for parents sit in a tent . ..Iran is a large and multiracial country which includes too many different races within the country. So it is common to have different traditions in the country including wedding traditions..Arabs, Lores, kurds, torks and fars people which make up the most population of the country, has their own wedding customs, but in this brief writing I’ll try to explain a typical wedding in Iran that I think it is mixed of the customs of the different country races..In a typical Iranian family, the groom’s family which probably including matchmakers (maybe groom’s uncle, aunt …) goes to the brides home and formally asks for her hand in marriage. In ask for hand feast, usually the bride offers the tea to grooms family. When the bride’s family agrees, two families talk about the other arrangements. They talk about the amount of marriage portion, marriage lines and set a date to get marry (Aghd) and the marriage ceremony..Before of the marriage day, usually there is a feat of ‘hanabandan’ which the families put some hennas on the new couple’s hands. It is a traditional custom..The next day, the couple take each other in marriage in presence of a priest, who should record the marriage with the signs of witnesses..After that the period of engagement begins which may take from a few days to a few years, depends on the couple’s view..After this period if everything goes well, they will take a formal wedding ceremony, inviting all of the friends and relatives of two families and usually serves a dinner or lunch with candy..The day after the reception is the shower day, which the ceremony attendants should donate their presents. ,PHOTO:ALFRED........
Tehran, Upper class and rich couple wedding ceremony, it takes place in a specially decorated room with flowers where a number of traditional rituals and customs are celebrated to ensure long happiness . PHOTO:ALFRED........