Nakhl Gardani (palm carrying) is a Shia's ceremony, held in some city of Iran as a symbol funeral of Imam Hussein. In this ritual, a huge structure made of trees and wood pillars will be carried by men around the city.
The Nakhl is not made of palms but depending on its size is made of even 12 wooden pillars made of one tree and a hundred pieces of wood. The skeleton of it is similar to a net-like chamber. The chamber is in rectangular cube form with a gable roof. The front and the back side of is in the shape of an arc or a cypress. When one of them is made for a mosque it should just be kept there and used for several years. It is so heavy but because of the distance between the base of the Nakhl and the ground, and between the handles and the bottom of it, less pressure is felt and each handle could be grabbed by several people.
The ritual is held in the first 10 days of the Muharram and especially in Ashura day. At first, they prepare and decorate it by different elements like black and green fabrics, sword and spear, Alam, bells, dagger. Each one is a symbol of the Day Ashura. Decorating the Nakhl is the duty of a special family who was chosen for this job and he should take care of elements.
At Ashura day the Nakhl is carried around the city and special places while someone sings sad poets about the tragedy of Ashura and catastrophes that happened there and hundreds of people follow it and cry for their innocent and suffers.
People who can not handle it try to help by offering drinks, a sweet dessert called Halva and fruits.
Every year the ritual attracts so many people to this city.
