The Anthropological Investigation of the ‘Palm-Turning’ Ceremony in Kashan (Case Study: the Palm of Husseini Mourning Corps in Sarfara and Guzar-Sadra Districts)

The congregational ceremonies, especially with a religious approach, have a considerable role in forming of the believers’ social and cultural life, and perform many functions. The mourning ceremonies of Muharram are among the most important and the most central congregational rites in the Shiite culture, which have been ingrained in the Iranian culture and perform many functions. The Husseini mourning ceremony has taken various forms in the course of time, among which is palm-turning ceremony (nakhl-gardaani), which is mostly held in the desert region in Iran. The present article attempts to use an anthropological approach and the techniques of observation, interview and participation to investigate various dimensions of the most famous ceremony of palm-turning in Husseini mourning corpse of Kashan in Sarfara and Guzar-Sadra districts to identify the cultural-social life of the people in that region with regard to this topic. Te results of the study suggests the infiltration of nakh-gardaani ceremony in the deep layers of people’s culture in a way that one may consider various aspects such as ‘granting identity’, ‘granting sanctity’, ‘making myths’, ‘wanting’, and ‘personification’.