Northeastern Iran - Iran - page 506

Non-Muslims are allowed in most of the Haram's outer courtyards. They are not al-
lowed inside the complex's two holiest buildings, the Holy Shrine and the Gohar Shad
Mosque. Technically, non-Muslims are also excluded from the magnificent Enqelab and
Azadi courtyards, but you can peep in through relevant gateways. At quieter times, those
who act suitably (demure, respectful and soaking up the spiritual rather than the aesthetic)
are rarely challenged and might wander through 'by mistake'. However, be particularly
careful not to upset Muslim sensibilities: remember, it's a privilege for non-Muslims to be
allowed to visit the Haram complex at all.

Foreign Pilgrims Assistance Office
( 221 3474; [e-mail]; 7am-6pm) Friendly, multilingual staff who live
to assist foreign visitors with the shrine will show you a 20-minute video and shower you
with books on all things Shiite. However, once you've visited this office there's no escape
from the free, friendly but over-protective guide/minder they assign you.
A good starting point for nonpilgrim visits is Falakeh Ab, from which several of the
domes and minarets are tantalisingly visible in the middle distance. Enter through the vast,
part-constructed Razavi Grand Courtyard , which should become grander once the blue,
white and gold tiling has been affixed to the courtyard's facades and concrete minarets.
Curving east you'll pass the Haram's museums (the Main Museum and the Carpet Mu-
seum, Click here ) after the unfinished Imam Khomeini Courtyard site. Beyond, look
northwest across the gorgeous Azadi Courtyard to glimpse the exterior of the Holy
Shrine building.
Notice the Naqqareh Khaneh , a blue-tiled bandstand platform perched above a clock
tower gateway. Twice daily (before dawn and dusk) a mesmerising 10-minute fanfare is
performed here by drummers and a heptet of hornblowers in faintly comical Salvation
Army-style peaked-caps.
Non-Muslims aren't supposed to transit the spectacular Enqelab Courtyard with its
two gold minarets and fabulous tile-work. So to reach Jomhuri Courtyard , the setting
for massed evening namaz (prayers), infidels should double back via Qods Courtyard ,
which features a miniature version of Jerusalem's 'Dome of the Rock'.
The gold-domed centrepiece of the Haram complex is the revered 17th-century Holy
Shrine building. Amid tearful prayer and meditation, the emotional climax to any Mash-
had pilgrimage is touching and kissing the zarih (gold-latticed cage), which covers Imam
Reza's tomb in the shrine's spectacular interior. The current zarih, the fifth, dates from
2001. Non-Muslims are excluded, but can see the previous zarih in the Haram's Main
Museum.

TOUR