The Evolution of Lighting at Razavi Shrine from the Safavid Period to the Contemporary Era Holy Shrine Case study

For a long time, lighting at Razavi Shrine has been one of administrators concern. The main goal of this study is to investigate lighting evolution in the most crowded place of the Shrine, the holy burial chamber, which is mainly done using first-hand archival sources. In this article, using a descriptive-analytical method, we have tried to obtain a precise understanding of the lighting status of the Holy Shrine from the Safavid period to the contemporary era. The most important findings of this study indicate that in eight endowment documents, all or part of the income is allocated to the provision of lighting.
Various types of candlesticks (Shurfih, sham‘dān, Lālih, Mardangī, Qandīl, Kachkūlī, Chilchirāgh and Lūstir) were the main lighting equipment of Razavi Shrine in that period. From the Safavid period to the Qajar era, candles and waxes are the only fuel for lighting, but from the Pahlavi I era, electric lights and electric power replaces these tools and old fuels. Also, the main sources of lighting at the Holy Shrine were supplied by devotions and vows from different classes of society.