150-year-old Tazia keeps Lucknow craftsmanship alive in Pakistan’s Sindh

Safeer Raza

MEHRABPUR, Pakistan (MNTV) – Every year on the night of the 10th of Muharram, a 150-year-old wooden-and-glass Tazia emerges from Miran Wari Imambargah in the Sindh town of Mehrabpur, retracing a ritual that has remained virtually unchanged for more than a century.

Commissioned by Mir Bagh Ali Talpur around 1897–98, the Tazia was crafted over the course of a year by artisans from the renowned Shishagar Rohila family of Lucknow, India. 

According to its custodians, the craftsmen produced only two Tazias of this design—one that remains in Lucknow and the other preserved in Mehrabpur—making it one of only two such structures in the world.

The historic Tazia is constructed entirely from wood and glass, primarily using teak wood with deodar incorporated in some sections. One of its most remarkable features is that it was assembled without the use of a single nail, reflecting the exceptional craftsmanship associated with the traditional artisans of Lucknow.

Mehrabpur: A town rich in ritual traditions

Mehrabpur has long been regarded as one of Sindh’s important centers of Shi’a religious life. Every Muharram, thousands of mourners gather in the town, which has historically hosted prominent scholars from across South Asia for religious sermons, mourning assemblies, and commemorative rituals. 

Renowned speakers including Talib Johri, Aqeel ul Gharvi, and Shehenshah Hussain Naqvi have frequently addressed congregations in the town.

The Talpur family, former rulers of the erstwhile Khairpur State, have supported Shi’a mourning processions across generations. Mir Ishtiaq Ali Talpur, one of the organizers and custodian of the Tazia, told MNTV that preserving the centuries-old tradition remains central to the family’s heritage of mourning.

“This Tazia holds immense importance to our sense of belonging to the wider Shi’a world,” he said, noting that its twin remains in Lucknow. “It connects us with the Shi’as of Lucknow.”

Talpur said the Tazia is housed at his residence for the remainder of the year before being returned for the annual Muharram procession, describing its custodianship as a privilege and blessing.

The Tazia is brought out only once each year and is carried on the shoulders of approximately 50 to 60 bearers.

Responsibility for carrying it has traditionally been divided among different communities, a custom preserved from generation to generation. 

Members of the Aamir community carry the front right side, Marri Baloch the front left, members of the Lund and Sheedi communities the rear right, and members of the Sheikh and Rahoo communities the rear left. 

Young and elderly participants alike continue the inherited responsibility with devotion.

Another distinctive tradition accompanies the procession. Since the earliest days of the Tazia’s commission, it has been lifted and steadied entirely by hand. 

The task has historically been performed by a Sunni family from a village near Mehrabpur, illustrating a longstanding tradition of shared participation.

The procession joins the town’s central Muharram mourning march, travelling through different neighborhoods before returning to Miran Wari Imambargah at around 8 a.m.

For participant Nabil Hussain, the annual journey represents more than a religious procession.

“This procession is miraculous because it brings together people from different sects,” he told MNTV before the procession began.

Hussain said the Tazia passes through predominantly Sunni neighborhoods, where residents have long expressed reverence for the procession. 

Women watching from rooftops and balconies traditionally shower currency notes upon the passing Tazia as an expression of prayer and respect.

He added that several smaller Tazias within the procession are associated with Hazrat Ali Asghar, the infant son of Imam Hussain who was martyred at Karbala. 

According to local belief, some Sunni women hoping to conceive children offer currency notes as a gesture of devotion while the Tazias pass through their neighborhoods.

As the procession entered those areas, MNTV witnessed residents showering currency notes from rooftops and balconies, offering a visible example of local Sunni-Shi’a coexistence during Muharram.

Another participant, Ali Nawaz, a Sunni Muslim, said the procession has remained one of his strongest childhood memories.

“Despite being a Sunni, the Tazia procession brings peace to my soul,” he told MNTV. 

“Watching it travel through different parts of the town from night until the early morning has always been deeply moving.”

For both Nawaz and Hussain, the mournful flute melodies accompanying the procession are inseparable from the experience itself.

They described the music as hauntingly beautiful—melodious yet filled with sorrow—evoking the suffering endured by Imam Hussain at Karbala.

Tazia: An artistic symbol of resistance

The cultural significance of such commemorations has also drawn scholarly attention. 

In his book Shi’ism: A Religion of Protest, Hamid Dabashi describes Tazia as one of the central performing traditions of Shi’ism, arguing that remembrance of Karbala is expressed not only through theology but also through ritual, architecture, poetry, calligraphy, and dramatic performance.

Although Dabashi’s discussion primarily examines the Iranian passion-play tradition of Tazia rather than the South Asian replica shrine, his analysis portrays these commemorative practices as forms of embodied memory that enable communities to relive the tragedy of Karbala rather than merely remember it.

He argues that rituals such as majalis, processions and Tazia transform history into a lived social experience, strengthening communal identity while renewing Shi’ism’s enduring ethical commitment to justice and resistance against oppression. 

Dabashi also regards Tazia as a sophisticated artistic tradition that combines symbolism, architecture, music, costume and ritual into one of the world’s distinctive forms of religious performance.

For Mehrabpur, the annual emergence of its historic Tazia is more than the preservation of a centuries-old object. 

It remains a living tradition where craftsmanship, faith, memory and communal participation continue to converge, linking a small town in Sindh with a shared heritage stretching back to Lucknow and, ultimately, to the enduring remembrance of Karbala.