Pir-e Sabz Pilgrimage · Pir-e Sabz

Culture of origin: Zoroastrian · Ancient festival

Holiday sources: Iran · Zoroastrianism

Pir-e Sabz, "the Green Pir", also called Chak Chak, "drip-drip", after its ever-dripping spring, is the most sacred of the Zoroastrian mountain shrines: a grotto beneath a cliff near Ardakan in Yazd province, where an eternal flame burns. Tradition holds that Nikbanu, daughter of Yazdegerd III, the last Sasanian king, was cornered there by the Arab army in 640 and that the mountain opened to shelter her. Pilgrims climb some 230 steps to reach it.