Zurkhaneh

Zurkhaneh or zourkhaneh (in Persan: RTL F زورخانه, literally: " house of the force") is the traditional gymnasium Iranian; in which the Iranian national sport called is practiced Varzesh-e Pahlavani or Varzesh-e Bastani .

Zurkhaneh in it even, is presented in the form of an octagonal pit of approximately 1m of depth, in which on a beaten ground ground, the athletes pahlevan involve themselves. With the difference of the gymnastics practiced in occident, the exercises constitute a true collective sport cumulating physical and of flexibility, ritual tests specific, and compliance with rules morals and ethics. The Pahlevan evolve/move at the rate/rhythm of the sound of a drum played by the morshed or guides, him even sitted in a place raised in the room.

The zurkhaneh is thus more than one place dedicated to the exercise of the physical force or the address. The zurkhaneh and the Varzesh-e Pahlavani plunge their roots in the Iranian culture pre-Islamic. After the Arab conquest, its practice became a time clandestine and represented a form of cultural resistance then. With the progressive Islamization of the Persian company, this resistance was moulted in a support of the values Shiite vis-a-vis the sunnism. Moreover, certain morals qualities and chivalrous values are necessary on behalf of the pahlevans : courage, abnegation, and especially faith and absolute fidelity with the prophet and the Imams.

The apogee of the Zurkhaneh under the dynasty Safavide, whereas the Chiisme duodecimain became religion of state. They declined thereafter to see ressusciter an renewed interest at the beginning of the 20th century, carrying nationalist values.

The practice of the Varzesh-e Pahlavani is still long-lived in the popular quarters of Teheran, Ispahan, Yazd, or others Villes of Iran.

See too

External bond

  • zurkhaneh.com
  • Philippe Rochard, “identities of the Iranian zurkhâne”, Technical and culture, n° 39, Sports and body concerned , November 1999, put on line on June 12th, 2006. Consulted on February 5th, 2007.
  • Luijendijk D.H., 2006, Zoor Khane, Ancient Martial Art off Iran, Boulder, US

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