Lalish

Sacred place of the Yezidis in Kurdistan, Iraq

Sacred place in Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Lalish

Laliş

Lalişa Nûranî

Sacred place

Conical roofs over the tomb of Şêx Adî in Lalish

Lalish

Location in Kurdistan, Iraq

Coordinates: 36°46′17.03″N 43°18′12.04″E﻿ / ﻿36.7713972°N 43.3033444°E﻿ / 36.7713972; 43.3033444
Country|  Iraq
Region|  Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region
Governorate| Nineveh
District| Shekhan District
Elevation

| 861 m (2,825 ft)
Part of a series on the Yazidi religion

Yazidism

Main topics

* Yazidis
* Yazidi social organization

The Heptad

* Tawûsî Melek
* Fexredîn
* Sheikh Shems
* Sicadîn
* Melik Şêxsin
* Sheikh Obekr
* Nasirdîn

List of Yazidi holy figures

* Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir
* Sultan Ezid
* Amadin
* Ezdina Mir
* Khatuna Fekhra
* Sheikh Mand
* Mehmed Reshan
* Musa Sor
* Sharaf ad-Din ibn al-Hasan
* Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir
* Pir Ali
* Rabia of Basra
* Shehid ibn Jerr

Holy places

* Lalish
* Sinjar Mountains
* Silat Bridge
* Mam Rashan Shrine
* Quba Mêrê Dîwanê
* Sharfadin Temple
* Sultan Ezid Temple

Festivals

* Batizmi
* Feast of Ezid
* Feast of the Assembly
* Tawûsgeran
* Tiwaf
* Yazidi New Year

Literature

* Yazidi Black Book
* Yazidi Book of Revelation

* v
* t
* e

Lalish (Kurdish: لالش, romanized: Laliş,[1][2] also known as Lalişa Nûranî) is a mountain valley[3] and temple[4] located in the Nineveh Plains, Iraq. It is the holiest temple of the Yazidis.[5] It is the location of the tomb of the Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir, a central figure of the Yazidi faith.[6]

The temple is above the town of Shekhan, which had the second largest population of Yazidi prior to the persecution of Yazidis by ISIL.[7] The temple is about sixty kilometers north of Mosul and 14 kilometers west from the village Ayn Sifna. The temple is built at about 861 meters above sea level and situated among three mountains, Hizrat in the west, Misat in the south and Arafat in the north.[8][9]

At least once in their lifetimes, Yazidis are expected to make a six-day pilgrimage to Lalish to visit the tomb of Şêx Adî and other sacred places.[6] These other sacred places are shrines dedicated to other holy beings. There are two sacred springs called Zamzam and the Kaniya Spî (White Spring).[10] Below Sheikh Adi's sanctuary, which also includes the tomb of Sheikh Hesen is situated a cave.[10]

Lalish is also the location of pirrā selāt (Ṣerāṭ Bridge) and a mountain called Mt. ʿErefāt which has sites significant in other faiths.[9] Yazidis living in the region are also expected to make a yearly pilgrimage to attend the autumn seven-day Feast of the Assembly,[11] which is celebrated between 6th and 13th of October.

It has been located in the Shekhan District[12] since 1991.[13]

## History

[edit]

Part of a series on

Kurdish history and Kurdish culture

People

* List of Kurds

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* Homeland

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* Turkey (Northern Kurdistan)
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Ancient

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Modern

* Kurdistansky Uyezd
* Kurdish rebellions during World War I
* Simko Shikak revolt
* Koçgiri Rebellion
* Ararat rebellion
* Dersim Rebellion
* Kingdom of Kurdistan
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* Republic of Mahabad
* Al-Anfal campaign
* Kurdish Republic of Lachin
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* Clothing
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* Kurmanji
* Sorani
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Religion

* Islam
* Spread
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* Yarsanism
* Yazdânism
* Yazidism
* Zoroastrianism

* v
* t
* e

Pilgrims and worshippers at the shrine of Xatûna Fexra in Lalish, with the Micewir of the shrine, Sheikh Mirza (second from left), mid-2019. The portico of the sanctuary of Lalish, showing carved Yezidi symbols

Archaeologists and historians believe the Lalish sanctuary to date back about 4,000 years.[14][15]

In the early 12th century, Adi ibn Mosāfer moved to Lalish. Adi died in 1162 and was buried. During a major campaign by the governor of Mosul against the Yazidi in 1415, the tomb of Adi was razed.[11]

The Lalish valley was annexed in 1892 by the surrounding Muslim tribes under the leadership of Ottomans, the mausoleum of Yezidi saints were looted and damaged and the Lalish Temple was converted into a Quranic school. The occupation of the temple eventually led to a fierce and widespread rebellion by Yezidis of Shekhan and Shingal against the Ottomans and the neighbouring Muslim Kurdish tribes. It was not until 1904 that the Ezidis, under the leadership of Mir Ali Beg, succeeded in forcibly recovering their temple and driving out the Muslim occupiers.[16][17][18]

Shrine of Shekh Shems, saint of the Sun, at Lalish

Beginning on 3 August 2014, Yazidi refugees fled from Sinjar and took shelter in the temple after the militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant attacked and captured Sinjar and its environs.[6][19] When some 50,000 Yezidis trapped on Sinjar Mountain were freed by way of a land corridor opened by the Peoples's Protection Units (YPG) and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),[20] the majority fled through Syria and circled around the north of the Sinjar mountain range to reach Lalish and Shekhan in Kurdistan Region.[7]

## See also

[edit]

* Genocide of Yazidis by ISIL
* Yazidi Black Book
* Yazidism
* Yazidis in Iraq
* List of Yazidi holy places

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "دوو پڕۆژە بۆ پەرستگەی لالش جێبەجێدەكرێن". Rûdaw (in Kurdish). 27 June 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
2. ^ "Perestgeha Laliş tê nûjenkirin". Rûdaw. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
3. ^ C. J. Edmonds (2002). A Pilgrimage to Lalish. Psychology Press. p. 10\. ISBN 9780947593285. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
4. ^ Luongo, Michael (21 August 2014). Fighting Back With Faith: Inside The Yezidis Iraqi Temple (PDF). The Daily Beast. p. 1. Retrieved 13 August 2019. `{{cite book}}`: `|website=` ignored (help)
5. ^ "Lalish Temple". whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
6. ^ a b c Soguel, Dominique (August 12, 2014). "World Middle East A sanctuary for Iraqi Yazidis – and a plea for Obama's intervention". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
7. ^ a b "Iraq crisis: the last stand of the Yazidis against Islamic State". The Telegraph. August 12, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
8. ^ "The Spiritual Centre of Lalish and the mausoleum of Sheikh Adi". Mesopotamia. Retrieved 2025-01-28.
9. ^ a b Harrassowitz, O. (2009). From Daena to Din. Religion, Kultur und Sprache in der iranischen Welt: Festschrift für Philip Kreyenbroek zum 60. Geburtstag. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 357\. ISBN 978-3447059176.
10. ^ a b Kreyenbroek, Philip G.; Jindy Rashow, Khalil (2005). God and Sheikh Adi are Perfect. Wiesbaden: Harassovitz Verlag. pp. 37–38\. ISBN 3447053003.37-38&rft.pub=Harassovitz+Verlag&rft.date=2005&rft.isbn=3447053003&rft.aulast=Kreyenbroek&rft.aufirst=Philip+G.&rft.au=Jindy+Rashow,+Khalil&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Lalish" class="Z3988">
11. ^ a b Allison, Christine (July 20, 2004). "YAZIDIS i. GENERAL". Encyclopædia Iranica (online ed.). New York. Retrieved August 13, 2014.`{{cite encyclopedia}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
12. ^ "Volunteers help restore holy Yezidi temple of Lalish". Rûdaw. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
13. ^ Minority Rights in the Middle East. OUP Oxford. 2013. p. 204\. ISBN 9780191668883.
14. ^ Kurdistan, Colin Gleeson in Iraqi. "Journeying to the historic heart of the Yazidi religion". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
15. ^ www.rudaw.net https://www.rudaw.net/english/people-places/12112018. Retrieved 2021-02-04. `{{cite web}}`: Missing or empty `|title=` (help)
16. ^ admin (2018-05-30). "Die Rückeroberung des Heiligtums Lalish im Jahr 1904". ÊzîdîPress (in German). Retrieved 2021-05-16.
17. ^ "Yezidis (Yazidis) History". Yezidis. Retrieved 2021-05-16.
18. ^ Fuccaro, Nelida (1994). Aspects of the social and political history of the Yazidi enclave of Jabal Sinjar (Iraq) under the British mandate, 1919-1932 (Doctoral thesis). Durham University.
19. ^ Spencer, Richard (August 13, 2014). "Iraq dispatch: terrified Yazidi people seek refuge inside holy temple". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
20. ^ Tharoor, Ishaan (11 August 2014). "A U.S.-designated terrorist group is saving Yazidis and battling the Islamic State". Washington Post. Retrieved 15 December 2018.

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