articlesLifestyle

The Road to Unity

A Portrait of Baluch Celebrations

Author: Dr. Shadi Ganji/ Translated by: Zarrin Najafi/ Photo: Arash Nooraghayee

In March of 2012 I took a bus from Tehran to Bandar Abbas. My final destination was to be the southeastern corner of Iran in Sistan and Baluchestan; a province that comprises two sections with Sistan in the north and Baluchestan in the south. I was there to see how the Baluchis celebrate Nowruz. However, once I informed my hostess in Bandar Abbas of my intentions to visit Baluchestan she told me that the Baluch do not in fact celebrate Nowruz! This was quite a surprise to me. For years I had been writing about the multinational nature of Nowruz celebrations, how these festivities could be found in countries as disparate as China and Europe, and to find that in my country, Iran, a country where Nowruz is arguably the most well established, there remain communities who neither set a Haft Sin table nor wish each other a happy Nowruz. Rather than dissuade me from making the journey, however, I was all the more intrigued to discover the customs of the Baluch people.

This article will be focused on the wedding rituals of the Baluch. My curiosity towards this particular aspect of Baluchi tradition was peaked about two or three days after I had set off from Bandar Abbas. I was in the coastal town of Sirik, an approximately two hour drive from Bandar Abbas, where the culture is a distinct mix of the Hormozgan and Sistan and Baluchestan people. The more I travelled from village to village the more I understood the great mosaic of Baluchi wedding customs. As the people of this land say: “It is springtime, a season for weddings before the dates get ripe and the season of work must begin”. Therefore, I had arrived at the perfect time of year to witness the height of these ceremonies. In every town I entered there invariably was a wedding going on, and consequently the best of Baluch hospitality was on display. The people of this province were truly welcoming to this stranger.

Pashamagh: Proposal of Marriage

Along the main route from Chabahar to Sarbaz I exited off onto a dirt road leading to Pakistan. I had to walk 15 km along this path to reach my destination; an isolated village called Pashamagh. Once I finally arrived I caught up with my local contact Raziyeh. We met at the house of her father-in-law where she lived with his several wives. The house had a central yard surrounded by 7 or 8 rooms. Every room belonged to one of the women..

Find more on:

http://gilgameshmag.com/en/product/spring-issue-2018/

Tags
Show More

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

Close
Close
Close