From the Sun-Scorched Desert of Iran to the Beaches of Trinidad: Ta'ziyeh's Journey from Asia to the Caribbean.

Abstract

This article features the procession of the nakhl in India. A nakhl is supported by eight intersecting tree trunks, less than one meter apart, that stick out laterally in four directions to form a base. The long, protruding ends of the trunk poles, which represent the spears that pierced the body of Hussein at Karbala, rest on the shoulders or are carried in the arms of the men in the procession. The wooden structure of the nakhl is outfitted from top to bottom in a ceremony known as nakhlbandi, a few days before Ashura. On Ashura, nakhlgardani, the actual procession of the nakhl, takes place. Barefoot men dressed in black station themselves along the poles extending out from under the lattice.