Qalishuyan,Ceremony of Carpet Washing in Mashhad-e Ardehal,Kashan

Qalishuyan rituals in Iran are performed to commemorate Sultan Ali who is worshiped as a saint by the people of Kashan and Fin. The ceremonies take place at his mausoleum in Mashhad-e-Ardehal. The village, famous for its carpets, in which the mausoleum is located, is located about 49 km west of Kashan, Isfahan Province, Iran.

According to a legend, Sultan Ali was tortured to death and his body found was carried in a carpet to a stream, where he was buried by the people of Fin and Xāve. Today, the tomb of Soltan Ali (AS) is the site of a ritual in which a carpet is washed with a huge gathering during a holy procession.

This ritual takes place on the nearest Friday to the seventeenth day of the month of Mehr, according to the solar-agricultural calendar. In the morning, the people of Xāve gather at the mausoleum to sprinkle rosewater on the carpet.

After completing the wrapping ritual, they deliver it to the people of Fin outside there, who rinse the carpet under running water and sprinkle it with cleanly cut and nicely decorated wooden sticks with drops of rose water.

These communities not only preserve the oral tradition of the procedure, but the tradition is also revived by adding new and festive elements.

The purpose of this ceremony is to express love and devotion to Sultan Ali. The rituals have been on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage representatives Since 2012.