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QOM – ROAD , THE DESERT .

QOM – ROAD , « NAMAKI », THE CENTRAL SALT LAKE .

QOM – MUD-BRICK MAKERS .

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QOM – THE STIRIO KHAYYAM CULTURAL CENTER A 100%

unseen producer for turkish-sung folklores (Shasavan and qashqayi nomads, azeri « ashighs » epics) . Regarding their lack of revolutionnary islamic licence, their CD and VCD are as unseen as rare.

QOM - OLD BAZAR – the now-deserted south-eastern section of the old bazar is now hosting many craftsmen. Background : the minaret of the Kaher square old mosque. .

QOM - OLD BAZAR South - eastern section of the old bazar. Background : the dome of the old Jameh Mosque .

QOM – khalyun narghileh carvers .

QOM (ARCHIVE) – timsheh in the bazar

GALLERIES, WAREHOUSES

This bazar is made of two 500 meters long corrridors, along eastern sidewalks of Fatmah Masumeh shrine. Unlike the amazingly painted safavi void – see Timsheh (« timsheh bozorg ») carpet storeage, right , 2008 - , the abbasid section (top) is now situated about 1 km away from the current town center.

QOM – Timsheh Bozorg in summer 2011

QOM – Timsheh Bozorg in 2008

QOM – the north-western section of the old bazar is was extended circa 1879 ( Qajar era )

QOM – small timsheh in the north-western section of the old bazar ( Qajar era )

QOM – the fruit market, situated near Holy shrine square.

Left : On the main roofed bridge, before the whole covering of the river (2009 AD). Here the prolific business of the religious merchandising survived, and well: rosaries, Hosein’s pictures, Surat inscriptions, prayer carpets, hijabs, incense burners, but also, toy machine guns, toys, umbrellas, clothes, luggages, anything….

QOM – old and new areas of the bazar

QOM – emamzadeh KHAN HAMZAH

QOM – Situated in the south eastern area of the bazar, the large Friday « Jameh » mosque is the oldest remaining sanctuary of the city. The current building partially dates

back to the safavids. .

QOM – Fatemeh Masumeh

QOM – Fatemeh Masumeh shrine – emam Reza’s sister -. This

section has been enlarged since the qajar king Nader Shah revived the worship of Fatmeh Masumeh in the 19th century. The attraction of the

pilgrims just boomed then non-stop.

QOM – Fatemeh Masumeh (Flick.fr)

From Emam REZA’s period, the original Fatma MASUMEH’s shrine in Qom has been dramatically restored and extended. The pilgrimage to that shrine seems still the major activity in the place.

NOTA Several famous quranic high schools were founded around, and Mashhad is the only religious school that can be compared in fame . KHOMEYNI was taught and lived in Qom

before fleding to Najaf, then to France.

Commemoration celebration for Emam MOUSSA KAZEM in FATEMEH MASSOUMEH shrine, Qom. (photo Mehr, 2012)

QOM – FATEMEH MASUMEH SHRINE –

here the main square and the bigot’s marketplace, summer 2011.

QOM Excepting testimonies by the Macca’s Hajj participants, few comparizons can express the visible devotion of these pilgrims. Right, we can observe the common adoration of the MASUMEH’s Shrine Door by a pilgrim. Left : I inserted this official picture of the Mashhad shrine Kiosk, which features the ancient fanfare or Naqarehkhan ( nakkareh drums + karna trumps) that were restored after the revolution in Kashan, Mashhad and Qom)

NOTA : After searching the origins of this naqareh drum it is reported as formerly beaten by camel drivers in caravans in Iran and Afghanistan and that suggests its presumed connections with the Fatimide inherited Mahmal ritual camel processions from Cairo & Damas to Macca (1200-1900 AD. One hypothesis that this perpetuated a Tazieh –like scenery of the Fatimides when in Cairo (XIV th century).

QOM – Fatemeh Masumeh shrine – emam Reza’s sister -

QOM – AZAAM MOSQUE West of the Fatemeh Masumeh shrine complex as seen from the river banks – February 2007, at that time the pigrim parking was not yet covering

the river-

FATMEH MASUMEH COMPLEX : THE AZAAM MOSQUE ,made 1952 AD, here during the restauration works of its dome (2007 AD)

AZAAM MOSQUE Latter progresses of the dome restauration (2011 AD)

FATMEH MASUMEH SHRINE DOME AS SEEN FROM THE TILED YARD OF THE AZAAM MOSQUE

YARD OF THE AZAAM MOSQUE

FATMEH MASUMEH SHRINE COMPLEX : TWO CONNEX MEDRESSEH-TYPE SCHOOLS

Archive photo : connex prestigious medreseh quranic schools DAR AL-SHAFAH & FAZIYEH, as seen from the dome of the AZAAM Mosque. Foreground : the tiled yard of the AZAAM mosque. The view possibly dates back to the 1990’s, and in the background right : one can distinguish the absence of the newly enlarged Emam Asghari mosque, as reliefs of the former building had been deleted then.

THE « NEW » EMAM ASGHARI MOSQUE Another remarkable reconstruction in Qom is the current enlargement of this oldest and charismatic mosque, This former sanctuary was situated in the northern neighbourhood of the Fatmeh Masumeh shrine, and was dedicated to the 11th emam of Shiah, alledgelly from the 11th century AD. Nothing remains of the former homonymous mosque, since such megalomaniac enlargement was undertaken in the late 1990’s. Left : Photo was shot in february 2007 during the erection of the dome. Below: Photo was shot in august 2011 during dome decoration.

« NEW » EMAM ASGHARI MOSQUE Here the progresses of the building phase in summer 2011.

« NEW » EMAM ASGHARI MOSQUE, QOM Here the progresses of the dome decoration phase in summer 2011.