Abstract
Tradition and symbols are pervasive across cultures. Religio-cultural
traditions are thought to have multiple origins and genres with
somewhat related meanings. The Taazia myth dates back to the reign of
Tamerlane in the South Asian context. Taazia was a ritual of religious
syncretism in this region. It is now a common ritual observed generally
by Muslims and specifically by Shia Ithna’ashari1 Muslims in
commemoration of the martyrdom of the grandson of the Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH). It is highly symbolic and accompanied by
mourning rituals. The very symbol revolves around the Karbala
paradigm and the connected mourning rituals, or condolence towards
the progeny of the Prophet through this ritual. The study on tradition of
Taazia encompasses the evolution of this symbol diachronically in a
South Asian perspective by applying the structural approach. Taazia
symbolism is associated to related artifacts of sacred category used in
azaadari, which are analyzed in the context of selected sites and
prevalent styles of Taazias in Punjab and Sindh. The association of
physical artifacts to human thought or behavior is symbolic. In this
way, the very symbol (Taazia) is analyzed along with similar religious
facts uncovering the inherent relationships of the units integrated in a
whole (azaadari).
Mahwish Zeeshan, Abid Ghafoor Chaudhry, Aneela Sultana. (2020) Unmaking the Taazia Symbol from a Structural Perspective, Journal of Asian Civilizations, Volume 43, Issue 1.
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