Feast of Khawankar · Khawankar

Culture of origin: Yarsan · Cultural

Holiday sources: Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq)

Khawankar is the most important religious feast of the Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq). After their three days in the cave of Marnow, Sultan Sahak and his companions came out, and his mother Rozbar served them rooster and rice, the same food as the feast's offering. On the evening of the third fast day the Yarsan gather in their jam-khanehs and holy places for the Jam: an offering of a cooked rooster and rice wrapped in bread, with gerdeh, a ritual sweet, and fruit, above all the pomegranate, which has a special place in the rite, is blessed with a sayyed's prayer and shared out, while the tanbur is played and the sacred texts are recited. The largest gathering is at the Heydari takyeh in Tutshami, Dalahoo, in Kermanshah province, sometimes a day or two after the feast itself.