ESFAHAN 15.07.2010

ESFAHAN 15 JULY 2010

I went out to see Manar Jonban which was the first place I visited on  the second day in Esfahan . I encountered many garlands and a few staff   in front of a building, maybe it was a Masjid.  I was surprised to see so many garlands; usually this ceremony’s rituals  are associated with Western customs at  funeral ceremonies.   Recently, you can see such images in the Mosques of Turkey.  But those kind images are evaluated as secularization by the notable section of the public.

Manar Jonbar  is a masjid in Esfahan that was once a Zoroastrian temple.   After Mongol occupation it was used as a Masjid and added two small minarets.   Its notable feature is that if one of the minarets is shaken, the other minaret will shake as well. A taxi took me to Manar Jonbar. I  could not  get  used to the daily working  schedule of Iran. .Thus , the monument was not open to visitors  for three hours ın afternoon due high temperatures .  I preferred to go the Tower of Silence   instead to wait.  This was   3 km away from Manar Jonbar.

İn the Zoroastrian  tradition, the deceased  were not  buried  in soil. According to Zoroastrians beliefs,  soil, water , fire and air were holy.  Human bodies were temporary , therefore it  should not  dirty  to soil or water.  For this reason they put their deceased on the open space to be eaten  by predatory birds in the tower of silence .

Zoroastrians have had to abandon this method. Nowadays they are burying their dead.

Under the sun of July, I sweated at the Tower of Silence , while ı was climbing . I remember how ı tortured my body as  ı had not bought a bottle water with me.  I tried to catch my breath by sitting on the soil for a while.   I could see all of Esfahan  including the  Zayandeh river flowing along from the top the of Tower.  As with other places in the Middle East, The tower of silence was devastated by nature and especially people.  All that remained were just  a few adobe walls. There was  an İranian family as a visiting there.  They were glad to see a foreign tourist there.  Thanks to them  I  took a few photos.

 I saw enough of what I required to see in the Tower of Silence. I returned to Manar Jonban by  taxi . The employees of Manar Janban had  finished their break time;  the doors of courtyard opened and visitors entered into courtyard. Each one of them sat on the bench in front of monument to see  the shaking minarets. Employees were convinced that it was crowded to enough to do performance. With the sign from one of the employees,  the other began to shake the minaret. The bell sound was evidence of the shaking minarets.  An  error in construction was the reason  for this monument becoming an attraction.

  When The show finished, those who wanted to see the interior space  entered  this small masjid. I preferred to remain in courtyard. 

I realised that I was very tired. 

 My feet were burning  from the heat. I took off my shoes and socks.  I folded trousers.  I saw a  hose there where an employee was irrigating  the roses in the garden of the masjid.  I didn't miss  the opportunity.  I still remember the pleasant sensation of  the cold water flowing on my feet.  I like to sit and observe people  in the courtyard of masjid. I laid on the bench there for a while.

 My sightseeing plan  for the second day in Esfahan was completed with Manar Jonbar "the shaken minarets".  I came back to the center of city. 

 My tongue had stuck to my palate due the heat. I needed to drink  fruit juice and then I saw the  melon vendor. I chose a melon and cut it with  the vendor’s  knife . I tasted a slice and  understood that ı was not a good selection . The seller offered  me a slice from another melon - that was delicious.

 I came back to the hostel " Amir Kabir" .  The long day had not finished yet .. My evening menu was a  canned fish and pita bread.  

We were four men in the table including me.  A Japanese "Yuta" and two Iranians guys .  One of them spoke to me in Turkish  and said that his name was Arman.   I  told him that Arman is an Armenian  name.  He didn't accept that and said  that he was learning Turkish ın Urmia .

 "Urmia is a largest city in west Azerbaijani Province of Iran"   

He tried to pretend to be an intelligent person to me. I wanted to take a photo but  he would not agree to this. 

 Naturally I couldn't communicate  with "Yuta" . I turned on my phone to listen to the poetry of Shahriar's Khan Nana with them.  The Iranian guy, Arman, recited this  poetry from  memory.  I didn't speak any English or Japanese at all. But I just observed that Yuta   was surprised to see we could agree via the common  language  of Turkish .

I finished speaking  with them and went out. 

I thanked the  Ziyai siblings who own the  Amir Kabir Hostel. 

 I got in a taxi which took me to bus station for a  fee of 2000 toman. 

 I booked a bus ticket to Shiraz,  for 7,5 dollars . 

The departure time for the bus was 23:00 . 

I stood around for  a few hours  until then.