Clues to the Mashhad Ardehal Carpet Washers Found in the Writings of Al-e Ahmad and Hassan Naraqi

The 55th session of the 'Documentary Nights' at the Iran Cinema Museum, featuring two documentaries, 'Ardehal Bazaar' by Farhad Varharam and 'Blood in the Carpet' by Amirqasem Razi, examined various aspects of the ancient rite of Mashhad Ardehal carpet washers and its historical, social, and cultural transformations.

According to Ambassador Arjan of Iran (Ambassador Arjan), this meeting was held on Monday evening, October 6, in cooperation with the Association of Documentary Cinema Producers and the Center for the Development of Documentary, Experimental and Animated Cinema in Ferdous Hall of Cinema Museum. These two documentaries, each from a different point of view, have dealt with the ritual of carpet cleaners in Mashhad, Ardahal; A ritual that was formed in connection with ancient cultural and religious traditions of Iran and has undergone many changes over time. Fakhreddin Sidi, a filmmaker, was in charge of this meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, while welcoming the attendees, Fakhruddin Sidi said: "I hope you enjoyed watching two documentaries that have become antiques, referring to the extensive changes in the ritual of carpet washers in the last four decades." These two documentaries are from 40 years ago and were made with 16mm negatives. The ceremony you saw has changed a lot and the places and other parts of the ceremony are not like this.

After that, Sidi invited Farhad Varharam, the director, and Abbas Bagharian, the cameraman of the documentary "Ardhal Bazaar", to talk about the production process of this work and the experience of video recording this ritual. From anthropological research to the production of "Ardahal Bazaar", Farhad Varharam, in the beginning of his speech, referring to the time of making and the history of this documentary, said: "The documentary "Ardahal Bazaar" was made in 1358, and the television did not broadcast the work for several years for no particular reason, until it was broadcast once in the form of the documentary series "Kashan", made by Jafar Fatemi, in 1366. In the credits, the title of 1366 is not correct and the wrong version was displayed; While a version with the title of 1358 should have been shown. The only difference between the two versions is in this issue and they have no other differences."

He further mentioned the memory of Masoud Behnam and Mahmoud Begi, who collaborated in the making of this documentary, and then discussed how he came to know the religion of carpet washers and the formation of the idea of making a film.

Varharam explained: "In 1353, when I was in the anthropology department of the University of Social Sciences, Mr. Ruhol Amini defined three projects that I collaborated with as a photographer. These projects were related to Abyaneh, Meimand Shahr Babak and the ancient ritual of the carpet cleaners of Mashhad, Ardahal. In the same year, I saw the ceremony. The following year was the same, and after that, the group stopped working; Therefore, until 1355, I went to see the ceremony continuously every year. I could not see the ceremony in 1356, but I saw it again the following year. In 1357, while I was going to visit the earthquake affected areas of Tabas, I saw this ceremony again, because their paths were close to each other. From the political atmosphere of 1357 to the difficulties of filming, this documentary maker, referring to the political atmosphere of the ceremony in 1357, added: "That year, the ceremony was very interesting and the youths chanted anti-government slogans. Gendarmes were also stationed around and on the hills to prevent clashes and I have pictures of that. The revolution happened and in 1358 I gave the plan to Abbas Bagharian to take it to television. Later, the making of this documentary was approved."

Varharam also said about the filming conditions in 1358: "In 1358, we went to record the ceremony and unfortunately, at that time, Abul Hassan Bani Sadr, the then president, had come there to give a speech. Therefore, they controlled the rooftops and did not allow anyone to sit there; While living under the roof is one of the characteristics of the ancient religion of the carpet cleaners of Mashhad, Ardahal." Reading the history of the ritual; From historical narratives to Mehrgan's hypothesis, Warhram said, referring to the sources that he has taken into consideration in the background of this ritual: "The first nudge that was given to us to think about the fact that the ritual of the old carpet washers of Mashhad Ardahal is not necessarily related to a ritual and religious ceremony related to martyrdom, was from the book "Hasty Evaluation" written by Jalal Al-Ahmad and the article "Mehrgan in Mashhad Ardahal". The book "Social History of Kashan" written by Hassan Naraghi also has references to this issue; Therefore, we got good leads."

Referring to the historical narratives related to this ceremony, he said: "Jalal Al-Ahmad, who has done a lot of research on this issue, confirms the story of the son of Imam Muhammad Baqir, but there is no document that he came to Iran and was martyred, and that a court was built for him. In other documents, the duration of this ceremony is mentioned for three weeks and its form was also in the form of a bazaar.

Referring to the situation of Ardahal market in the past, Varhram explained that this market was not very prosperous in a period and about 20 surrounding villages used to go there for their annual purchases. According to him, the examination of historical documents and narratives can help to know more precisely the relationship between this market, the religion of carpet washers and the ancient traditions of the region. The market that was held for three weeks; Narrative of the economy and people's life of this documentary maker, the transformation of the Ardahal market and the reduction of its holding period are the result of social and economic changes and he said: "Gradually, with the construction of roads, improvement of communications, cities becoming closer to villages and the establishment of shops in the villages, the holding period of this market was reduced from three weeks to one day. One week was dedicated to jars, one week to carpets and the last week to Nashatjis. During these three weeks, the market was held and people came to this market from Abadeh, Shiraz, Isfahan and Qom.

Referring to his field research about the Ardahal market, Varhram said: "During my research, I had seen all the villages and even interviewed the coppersmiths of the Kashan market who came to this ritual. The architecture of Ardahal market has been completely destroyed. This old market had rooms where coppersmiths set up shop and villagers brought their copper vessels to be whitened or repaired. Now this place is completely different from what you saw in the documentary, and you feel strange when you see these images. This narrative shows that Ardahal market was not just a place to hold a ceremony, but a space for exchanging goods, communicating between villages, and continuing some traditional professions; A space where the change in lifestyle, the development of communication ways, and the expansion of new facilities gradually transformed its economic functions." From three weeks to one day; The effect of social changes on the Ardahal and Varharam ritual, comparing the past and present forms of this ceremony, he said: "There, they have started the Arbaeen procession, and people from the villages move there on foot. As Al-Ahmad says, the ceremony of the old carpet cleaners of Mashhad Ardal is the only Shia religious ceremony that is always held according to the solar calendar and on the 16th day of Mehr. In recent years, to increase people's participation, they move the time of the ceremony to the closest Friday to this date."

He further stated about the changes in the form of holding the ceremony and the expansion of tourism activities in the region: "Now this ceremony is held completely in a tourist form and foreign tourists are taken there. They have reserved a place for them and travel agencies are active there. The situation is not the same anymore. The fact is that this ceremony has nothing to do with the martyrdom of an imamzadeh, but now it is really held in the form of an imamzadeh martyrdom ceremony. It was like this before the Islamic revolution, and it is interesting that the vice president of this place was Reza Pahlavi. These statements are a part of Varharam's historical and anthropological perspective on the transformation of the carpet washers' religion. A point of view that emphasizes the necessity of examining historical sources and separating documented narratives from later impressions and interpretations. Mehrgan and Ardahal; Emphasizing the necessity of research in the field of history and mythology, Varahram addressed the Mehrgan festival and the way it was held in the past and noted: "The Mehrgan festival really needs a serious research in the field of mythology and historiography, because no one knows exactly how this festival was held. There are only references to it in Beyhaqi's history and Tabari's history, which are related to the court, and no one knows how Mehrgan festival was celebrated among the people. In the poems of the 4th and 5th centuries of Hijri, Mehrgan is also mentioned, which are also related to court traditions.

He continued, referring to the views expressed about the nature of the bazaar and the Mehrgan festival, and said: "The late Bahar has some references in this regard and considers Mehrgan as one of the autumn festivals, during which a bazaar should be formed so that people can gather together. Finally, as it is said, before Mehrgan was a celebration, it was a market where games were also played; It is a matter that is also the case in different parts of the world."

This documentary maker further considered the change in the function of the market and the gradual prominence of the ritual aspect of the ceremony as important issues in understanding the historical developments of Ardehal and explained that with the decrease in the importance and prosperity of the market, the ceremony itself gradually became more prominent and further, changes in government, power and politics also affected the fate of the market.

He said about this: "When the market loses its importance and prosperity, the ceremony itself becomes more colorful until the ancient ritual of carpet cleaners completely overcomes the market. The market is also affected once again by the change of government, power and politics, and it generally disappears. Now, if you go to Mashhad Ardehal, there is no more of that old market, and only a market for selling second-hand clothes can be seen at the end of it."

recording unrepeatable moments; The difficulty of filming the ritual of carpet washers

In the continuation of the meeting, Abbas Bagharian, the cameraman of the documentary "Ardehal Bazaar", said about the difficulties of filming this ritual: "As you know, this ceremony is a one-day event; Therefore, you should be able to capture as many moments as possible in one day. If you can't capture all the moments, you should capture at least more than 80% of them. Otherwise, the effect will be somewhat problematic."

Referring to the role of Farhad Varharam's research in the production process of this documentary, Bagharian added: "Before the filming, I had read Farhad Varharam's research on this issue completely. Basically, Verhram's way of working is based on research, he knows the history and events in front of the camera, and he conveys his information to the film crew. As a result, the cameraman also becomes enthusiastic and interested in the ceremony, even if he has not seen the ceremony before."

"Ardhal Bazaar"; Visual recording of the cultural memory of a region

The screening of the documentary "Ardehal Bazaar" at the 55th "Documentary Nights" meeting of the Cinema Museum provided an opportunity to reread a part of Iran's cultural and social memory through the lens of documentary cinema; The memory recorded in the images reflects not only the form of holding a ritual, but also economic relations, traditional professions, relations between villages and the impact of social changes on people's lives.

This documentary, by recording an image of a space where an important part of it has changed or disappeared over time, reminds the importance of documentary cinema in preserving cultural signs and providing the possibility of re-studying the past; A past whose knowledge will not be complete without detailed research, field recording and critical examination of historical narratives.

The 55th "Documentary Nights" session of the Iran Cinema Museum was dedicated to the investigation of various aspects of the ancient religion of Mashhad Ardahal carpet washers and its historical, social and cultural transformations, with the screening of two documentaries, "Ardahal Bazaar" by Farhad Varahram and "Blood in the Carpet Flower" by Amir Qasem Razi.

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