Loading ...Zoroastrian temple of Pir-e-Naraki, near Yazd
Writing on the founding legends of the six major shrines in the Yazd region, Michael Fischer comments that their “mythical origin is a variant of the Bibi Shahbanu legend, namely, that at the time of the Arab invasion a daughter or son or member of the court of Yazdegird III fled before an Arab army towards Khorassan, came to a point of exhaustion near Yazd, called upon God, and was taken into the mountain, rock, well, or cave before the bewildered Arab eyes. The second part of the legend concerns a process of rediscovery. That is to say, the location of these sites of ascension to the next world was lost. Then, in relatively recent times, they were rediscovered by a shepherd, child, or other person in need, to whom a spirit or saint (pir) appeared in a vision or a dream. This spirit aids the human protagonist by solving the mystery of lost sheep, lost path, and so on, requesting in return that a shrine be built.” This legend, commonly used by devout Zoroastrians in order to sanctify their mountain shrines, is however, known to date from an historical period demonstrably more recent than the shrines themselves. The Zoroastrian mountain shrines of the Yazd region were used as holy places long before the birth of Islam and therefore predate any legends associated with that religion. The six shrines are:
* Pir-e Sabz (Chak-Chak); 72 kilometers from Yazd, near Ardakan; pilgrimage period June 14-18.
* Seti Pir; east of Yazd, pilgrimage period June 14-18, often visited on the way to the shrine of Pir-e Sabz.
* Pir-e Narestuneh (Narestan); Kharuna mountains, six miles east of Yazd; pilgrimage period: later part of June, after Pir-e Sabz.
* Pir-e Banu-Pars; near Sharifabad; pilgrimage period in early July.
* Pir-e Naraki; at the foot of Mt. Nareke, south of Yazd; pilgrimage period in mid-August.
* Pir-e Herisht; near Sharifabad.
The shrine of Shekaft-e Yazdan (the ‘Cleft of God’) in the Tutgin valley near the village of Zardju is sometimes visited after the pilgrimage to the shrine of Pir-e Banu-Pars. (Another sacred site in the Yazd region is the Muslim shrine of Haji Khezr, in the town of Kuhbanan.)
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