Photos by Sina Shiri, ISNA

The following photos by Sina Shiri are from the Ashoura mourning ritual held on December 27 in the town of Bijar in Kurdestan Province of Iran located in the western part of the country . Bijar's estimated population as of 2006 is 46,156. With an elevation of 1883.4 meters, Bijar is called the Roof of Iran.

The Mourning of Muharram is an important period of mourning in the Shi'a branch of Islam, taking place in Muharram which is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is also called the Remembrance of Muharram. The event marks the anniversary of the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD when Imam Husayn ibn Ali, a grandson of Muhammad the founder of Islam, and a Shia Imam, was killed by the forces of the second Umayad caliph Yazid I.  The mourning reaches its climax on the tenth day, known as Ashura, on which the forces of Yazid killed the 72 individuals who fought, including Husayn and his family and supporters.

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