SAHNEH, Iran – Followers of the Yarsan religion in the Kurdish province of Kermanshah in Iran held a memorial for one of the greatest masters of the tanbur.
Seyed Khalil Alinezhad, a traditional singer and tanbur player who spent most of his life in Iran, was murdered in Sweden in 2001 at the age of 44. His killer was never caught.
Yarsan, or Ahl-e-Haq, is practiced by more than a million people mainly in Iran’s Kurdistan and in parts of Iraq. It is not an officially recognized religion in Iran and its followers are persecuted.
The tanbur, a long-necked string instrument, is commonly played in Yarsan ceremonies.
Many attendees of the memorial in his hometown of Sahneh, where Alinezhad is buried, played the tanbur and the daf drum. Others did a traditional Sufi dance.
Aliznezhad was also a spiritual leader of the mystic religion. His death has remained a mystery. Some blame rival Yarsan followers and others blame Iranian agents. At his funeral in Sahneh in 2001, hundreds of people played the tanbur and daf as his body was laid to rest.
Wearing a traditional outfit and sporting a long beard and moustache, Aliznezhad became a master of the tanbur. He produced several albums during his lifetime, and studied the history of the instrument for his thesis at an arts institute in Tehran.
Yarsan is commonly known as Kakei in the Kurdistan Region, where it is a recognized religion.
Kermanshah province was hit by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake last week killed 436 people and injured over 7,800.
Attendees raised funds for those affected by the deadly quake.
Photos by Bahman Shahbazi
