Insignias in Shi'a Ethos and Commemoration: An Anthropological Analysis of Symbolic Interpretation with Colors

Abstract

Shi'a is a popular sect of Muslims all over the world, and they have so many interesting signs and symbols in their culture; it is a need of the hour to explore and get in-depth knowledge about unique symbols which have remarkable latent meanings. This paper deals with the symbolic spiritual interpretation of colors in the Shi'a populace of the Chakwal. An Anthropological qualitative research technique was used to collect empirical data based on a native point of view. The main objectives of the research were to describe the explicit and implicit human cognitive positive & negative connotations of colors and significance of the colors in dresses, 'Alam and ritual performances in the daily life of Shi'a culture. In this paper, an attempt has been made to understand, analyze the historical symbolic meaning of the colors and how socio-culturally people attached with black, red and green colors in the Shi'a community.