Folklore Aspects of Funeral and Mourning Rites of Badakhshan Residents

Abstract

The article is devoted to one of the spheres of the spiritual culture of the inhabitants of Badakhshan – funeral and mourning rites, which reflected many of the traditional ideas of the local population. The purpose of the article is to reveal the distinctive cultural features in the funeral and mourning rites of the inhabitants of Badakhshan. The content of the article is based on the material accumulated by the author from folk stories, beliefs and customs of funerals and mourning ceremonies, the results of surveys of local residents, experts on local rituals and active participants in the relevant rites, as well as the views of previous researchers. On the basis of the method of participant observation, interviews, comparative methods, various aspects of the features of funeral and memorial rites were analyzed, such as reading a prayer for the dead (janoz), funeral lighting of the lamp “Charogravshan” (Lighting the lamp), which form the basis of the religious rites of the mourning Shiite families. Ismailis of Badakhshan. At the end of the article, conclusions are given about the main elements of the rite “Charogravshan”: reading the verses of the Koran associated with light; reading “Kandilname (Charogname)”; prayers for lighting a lamp; reading laudatory verses from the poetry of Nasir Khosrov; praise in the name of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him); prayers and special verses related to grief; checking the lamp by the caliph and those present; prayers and blessings for the repose of the soul of the deceased.