Hazrati Burkh

A mausoleum in one of the most impressive settings in the world

Tajikistan has some of the most interesting and intriguing holy places in Central Asia. Do not expect the magnificence of Bukhara and Samarkand. Instead all over this jewel of a country are fascinating, small scale mosques and mazori (shrines, mausoleums). Often these are on the sites of pre-Islamic holy places - animistic, Buddhist and Zoroastrian. They are everywhere, especially in the remote villages of the Pamirs. These shrines and holy wells are set against the magnificent backdrop of the snow-covered peaks and glaciers of the High Pamirs. Nearly always these holy places are associated with legends of magical deeds and wondrous events.
Under the Soviet regime religion was discouraged. Many mosques were converted into grain stores or served other utilitarian purposes. Since independence in 1991 there has been a resurgence of religious observance in Tajikistan. Mosques have been re-opened and new ones built to accommodate the large number of worshippers. Some of the money for renovation has come from abroad, but most has been raised by local people - many of whom are very poor.
There are magnificent holy buildings in Tajikistan. In Istaravshan, in the north, are the turquoise dome and blue tiles of the Kok Gumbaz mosque and madrassa; and the peaceful setting of Sar-i Mazor with its mosques and mausoleums set amongst 800 year old trees. These places are smaller versions of the glories of Bukhara - but without the tourists.
The Hazrati Mavlom Yuqubi Charki mosque and mausoleum dedicated to the Sufi theologian who translated the Qur'an into Persian is a short journey into the suburbs of Dushanbe. This sixteenth century complex with some modern additions is set amongst elegant gardens and pools.
However, although these and many other holy places in the lower lands are fascinating, the true Tajikistan experience is to travel to remote holy places in the mountains. The visitor could find no better pilgrimage (following in the footsteps of thousands of others over the centuries) than to the mausoleum of Hazrati Burkh. To reach this remote and evocative place involves a classic Pamir mountain journey.
Leaving Dushanbe, the capital, on a reasonable tarmac road to the north-east along the course of the Vakhsh river, the traveller heads south-east up the dramatic Khingob valley following the river upstream through gorges and high pastures to the village of Tavildara. This valley was the scene of fierce fighting in the civil war (1991 to 1993), and there are still signs of this struggle - an upturned tank in the river and burned-out Russian personnel carriers. This is the summer route across the Pamirs to Qala-i Khumb, where the main road joins the all-season road along the Panj river bank, the border with Afghanistan, linking Dushanbe with Khorog, capital of the Pamirs.
Back at Tavildara there is a turning up to the headwaters of the Khingob. The road surface deteriorates and 4-wheel drive is essential. The route is typical of the glories of the Pamirs - a steep-sided valley of constantly changing vistas, the occasional village with traditional Pamiri houses, ancient irrigation channels set amidst apple and almond orchards and always with glimpses of peaks and glaciers. The hardy people survive by keeping cattle, goats and sheep, and crops from tiny terraced fields. They maintain the traditional Islamic values of hospitality to strangers. The villages are sparsely populated, partly because in Soviet times many people were forcibly relocated to grow cotton on the baking hot plains of the lower Vakhsh.
The road becomes progressively more difficult. Eventually a turning is reached at Sangvor village and soon after that it is necessary to walk - but what a walk! Steep riverside paths cross the Ob-i Mazor river on precarious foot bridges. The land becomes progressively more of a stony wilderness. The mausoleum is eventually reached after a lung-busting climb at 2,700 metres.

Situated on a terrace on a steep mountain slope, Hazrati Burkh commands breathtaking views down the valley and across the surrounding peaks. It is not large, with two rooms, one containing the rectangular tomb of Burkh. Nevertheless, the construction is impressive. Reputedly built in the seventh and eighth centuries, with walls of red clay bricks, it has a fine dome and two small minarets. There is a sturdy wooden door set between two pillars. Inside it is very bare, although traditionally the tomb is covered with a wool carpet. Pilgrims place stones on cairns and some place votive ribbons on trees around the mausoleum.
Russian historians have postulated that the veneration of Burkh has its origins in pre-Islamic times. In this harsh environment local people would have relied on hunting wild goat as an important source of meat and hides. From this developed the veneration of a goat spirit. It was thought this would bring good harvests and fertile cattle. (It is still quite common in the Pamirs to see houses adorned with the horns of wild goat and Marco Polo sheep.) The historians claim this spirit belief was transferred to an Islamic saint, Burkh, who had magical powers according to legend. He had special skills as a weaver, and in Bukhara amazed people by weaving fifty cloths in a day. In the past a spindle was kept in the mausoleum as a tribute to his skills.
One legend is that on one night of the year two tigers stand guard over the tomb of the saint.
More prosaically, the local people encouraged the worship of the saint, and would have benefited from the many pilgrims who left gifts at the shrine and made some payment for their lodging.
Hazrati Burkh is not a large and magnificent structure, but it is as impressive in its own way as the great mosques of Central Asia. It is in a remote and beautiful place that has probably been g back into pre-history. To reach it requires something of a pilgrimage, passing through some of the most stunning scenery on earth.