I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y http://www.tehrantimes.com MMAYAY 15,15, 22011011 HIGHLIGHTS 7

Kandovan, home of TRAVEL BLOGS On foot and home modern-age cave dwellers by magic carpet From Skiwiman’s profile By K. E. Eduljee Just before the bus an elderly man interrupted, “Excuse ucked away in the northwest cor- me” he said, “Can I ask you a question?” Of course I re- Tner of Iran is the quaint and mys- plied. “Where are you from?” Now there was an origi- terious thirteenth century village nal question. Man Irland-e hastam. “Ah. Ear-land” That’s of Kandovan. Located in Iran’s East what it sounded like. We both know he was saying Ire- Azerbaijan Province, Kandovan is 60 land, but work with me. It’s more charming I think this km south of the provincial capital Ta- way. briz in Osku County. The 60 km drive “Thank you for coming to my country.” Wow. When to Kandovan south from Tabriz passes was the last time you were in a foreign country and were through Khosrowshahr and ascends thanked just for coming? the slopes of the hills at the base of “I hope you have a very good visit.” With that he Kuh-e (Mount) Sahand through the smiled and just wandered on his way. Osku Chai valley. Chai or Chay is a Tur- It was time for a visit to the Orthodox Church in Vank kic word for river. district. Ornately decorated in the church, there was an The village of Kandovan is also part historical display of the massacre by Turkish forces in the of the Lake Urmia region, the region early part of the twentieth where the predecessors of the Per- century. I didn’t take notes sians and the Medes first entered re- so I can’t remember the corded history in a 844 BCE Assyrian details, which is not to dis- inscription, and the region that is cen- play any disinterest. tral to the start of the second phase of The day just got bet- Zoroastrian history. ter as we headed off to What makes Kandovan village so thought to have occurred within the of this page) was opened in 2007 to ac- Most of the cave houses are two to a pigeon house. Oh yes. unique is that many of its homes have Holocene epoch that is within the last commodate visitors who wish to stay four storeys in height. In a typical four This brick structure is de- been made in caves located in cone- 11,000 years. Today, Mount Sahand is a over a night or more. Before the open- storey house, the ground or first floor signed to house pigeons shaped, naturally formed compressed dormant volcano consisting of a crater ing of the hotel, visitors to Kandovan is used as an animal shelter, the next that can come and go as volcanic ash formations that make lake encircled by twelve peaks, the tall- were obliged to make a day trip from two floors are used as living areas, and they please but more im- the landscape look like a gigantic ter- est of which rises to a height of 3707 Tabriz 60 km to the north. It is only a the top floor is used for storage. There portantly their droppings mite colony. This method of dwelling m. or 12,162 feet. matter of time before the local popula- are reports of tunnels connecting tow- drop (as droppings are of makes the residents modern-age cave Natural beauty in the Sahand tion begins to rely on tourism as a major ers owned by a person or family. a nature to do) to the floor dwellers or troglodytes. (Troglodyte region source of income, thereby supplanting Kandovan’s age where the matter is col- means cave dweller: somebody living While Mount Sahand itself is some- their traditional pastoral and agricultural The present residents say that their lected for fertilizer. Those Jameh Mosque in Isfahan in a cave, especially somebody who what stark, the surrounding country way of life. village is around 700 years old and was not overly offended by the whiff can ascend the stairs for belonged to a prehistoric cave-dwell- abounds in a natural beauty that is to- Use of caves as human dwellings formed by people fleeing from an ad- a wonderful view around town. A quirk of Iranian culture ing community. Troglodyte also means day but a shadow of a legendary past. As noted previously, in the area of vancing Mongol army and who used and yes, it was worth a visit. somebody living in seclusion.) Nature’s gifts in Kandovan extend Kandovan, Sahand’s volcanic ash and the caves as a refugee and a place of My pal Greta coerced me into buying some pome- It is our understanding that the to the healing properties of its natural debris was compressed and shaped by hiding. Even after the Mongol occupa- granate paste she can found in the small convenience unusual cone formations were formed spring water. In particular, the waters natural forces into cone-shaped pillars tion of the country came to an end, store adjacent to the pigeon house. In case you’re won- from volcanic ash and debris spewed have traditionally been used to help dis- containing pockets that became caves. many of the refugees decided to con- dering the paste is used in cooking fesenjan (you also during an eruption of Mount Sahand solve kidney and bladder stones. Some The hardened material of the pillars is tinue living in the caves and gradually need ground walnuts, onions, chicken/lamb - oh, and being hardened and shaped by the el- of the area’s wild plants as also reputed strong enough to function as walls and expanded their cave homes to form some lovely naan bread). Anyhow I digress. ements over thousands of years. The to have healing and vitality-giving prop- floors of a house while permitting a permanent multi-storey houses. An- It was time for tea and so we entered the bazzar, as formation of volcanic ash cones is lo- erties. The combination of Kandovan’s further shaping of the caves. The ma- other legend states that eight hundred Moshen calls it, and into one of the myriad tea houses. cal to Kandovan. Elsewhere, the ash unique natural landscape, beauty, and terial is also an efficient insulator and years ago a body of soldiers hid in the Much “salaam”, “sob bekhyr” and “hello” as we entered blanketed the land. The existence of the manner in which its inhabitants have the troglodyte’s homes have the repu- caves during a military campaign. from the curious locals who apart from supping their a high volume of ash and pumice far adapted to the environment, has made tation of being very energy efficient, However, there are indications that chai were puffing on their bubble pipes. from Sahand’s crater indicates that Kandovan a popular destination for visi- remaining cool in summer and warm in the present cave dwellers are succes- There really are times when the simple things in life Mount Sahand erupted with a gigantic tors. About 300,000 people visit the vil- winter. The cave homes require mini- sors of earlier 1600-3000 years ago cave give the most pleasure. This basic and eclectic tea shop explosion in the distant past. Sahand’s lage each year (the resident population mal supplemental heat during the long dwellers which would have made them was charming, authentic and in no way aimed at the rock is about a million years old and is only 670) and a cave hotel with ten cold season, making for comfortable contemporaneous to the first known tourist trade. the last eruption of Mount Sahand is rooms (see photographs at the bottom year round habitation. presence of Zoroastrians in the region. Following the Jameh Mosque (Friday mosque) we were back in the bazaar where David and Moshen bought a lamb biryani takeaway each. Freshly baked nnaan bread with lamb mince and liver, sprinkled with Susa, the birthplace of worshipper figures lilime juice. Oh but it was good. And it seemed to please Statues of praying figures served to perpetuate wor- empty the container it holds in its paws; a bustard carved in a block, it occupies the tthe locals no end that a bunch of Westerners were tuck- shippers’ prayers in the temple. They became wide- perched on curled feet looks on with a watchful space in a new manner: the arms ining in with such glee to their local dish. Did I mention it spread in the Sumerian world in the 3rd millennium eye. The only statues of human beings were praying are detached from the body and wwas just delicious? BC, but first appeared several centuries earlier at figures. These were highly popular in the 3rd millen- the fingers are raised to the chin. It was finally time to go head to head with the bazaar Susa, an ancient city in western Iran. The position of nium BC, but it was in Susa that they first appeared. The sculptor was seeking ttraders. Greta was in buying mood. A wonderful piece of the figures, kneeling in their gowns, is characteristic The praying figures of Susa to make a realistic portrayal lalapis was soon in her possession. These bazaar traders of these statues. The first statuettes of praying figures were found of a particular gesture - almost aare no local hacks. The development of sculpture alongside the in Susa in two depositories called “Archaic depots.” certainly that of prayer - with A final visit to the carpet shop resulted in a pur- emergence of towns The material of choice was alabaster, a stone that the last two fingers intertwined cchase or three, although not by me. Our little group During the proto-urban period, major changes was readily available, easy to work, and more pres- and the thumbs meeting under wwasn’t so little when the taxis we hailed pulled up. All took place in the fields of architecture, administra- tigious than limestone, which was also widely used the chin. There is a certain awkward- bbut one of us fitted into the cab. David volunteered to tion, the organization of power, and also in art. in the late 4th millennium BC. The kneeling position ness in this new approach: the chin is wwalk back to the hotel himself. Well I couldn’t be hav- Sculpture developed in the form of stelae worked in the garment was peculiar to Elamite worshipper slightly displaced, jutting forward ining that. So the taxis left for Ali Qapu and David and in bas-relief, decorated vases, and statues in the figures, although an example has been found in to the point of pragmatism, and I headed back through Isfahan to the hotel. It was a round. Human representation became realistic, Tell Agrab, in the Diyala region of Iraq. The figures the arms are a little too long. ggood job David already walked this route the previous with lifelike faces and bodily proportions rendered are depicted with joined hands or bearing a vase as Nevertheless, this praying fig- dday as I had no notion of where we were headed or more or less accurately. The best-known image an offering. The small Susa worshippers are always ure remains the most beau- hhow long it would take. from this period is that of the priest-king, of which shown with almond-shaped eyes and a hooked nose, tiful of the Susa series: The walk was a pleasure. The streets were full of several examples in the round have been found in the hair held in a band and falling in a rounded shape “One of the most strik- ppeople casting a curious eye at two Westerners casu- Mesopotamia. at the back, and with joined hands supporting very ing ancient expressions aally walking their streets. The occasional ‘hello’ was In Susa original forms of sculpture were devel- high-set breasts. of prayer,” as the lead- ccast our way. Then it was dice with death time as we oped, with animals depicted in amusing and lively A unique statuette ing specialist of Elamite ccrossed the street, jay- poses. Frogs clamber up the sides of a piglet or pre- This statuette is nonetheless exceptional. It is con- art Pierre Amiet put it. wwalking style! David and pare to jump; a bear sitting on its haunches tries to siderably larger than the others, and instead of being (Source: Louvre Museum) I had “touched the dark- nness” but our walk had been so much more of an Iran’s international acclaimed virtuoso adventure than the taxi ride would ever have de- Faramarz Payvar was an Iranian virtuoso of the san- ertoire of Persian classical music. Following this, he livered. Man I love this tur, a 72-stringed hammered dulcimer. He traveled was able to perform alongside his teacher on Iranian city. internationally as a cultural ambassador for Persian National Radio, taking part in a groundbreaking se- The Paddy Wagon music, performing in North America, Britain, Europe, ries of programmers. braked sharply. Then re- various Soviet Republics and Japan. After doing his military service in 1952, Payvar be- versed. Mohammed No.2 He also published several books on practical and gan working for the Iranian Ministry of Finance, and got off the bus and made theoretical aspects of Iranian classical music. These in- started teaching at the College for National Music, off along the stony ground. cluded a series of influential guides on how to play the but in 1955 he moved to the Ministry of Education. He was after our next , and a popular manual for the tar, a long-necked By 1959 he had founded the nine-member National passenger...a goat. It could lute said to embody the spirit of Iranian music. Instrumental Orchestra of the Ministry of Arts and well have been a sheep. Ali Qapu Palace Although once perceived as marginal, the santur Culture. You see in the Middle East is now considered an important solo instrument in In 1963 Payvar won a scholarship to study for the sheep and goats are fairly similar. And so we merrily Persian classical music, largely as a result of his work. three years in England, where he met his Irish-Amer- sailed onwards, past several flocks of sheep/goats with- Over the course of his career, Payvar revolutionized ican first wife. During this time, he also lectured on out stopping to enquire if these herdsmen owned said its playing, led two major ensembles and made nu- and performed Persian classical music in sheep/goat. Then again perhaps each of these herdsmen merous recordings. Payvar was renowned for his strict Faramarz Payvar (left) is playing the santur, a 72-stringed and Cambridge. After the Islamic Revolution, his first hammered dulcimer. would give an automatic ‘yes’ whether or not they in fact personal discipline and demanded the same of his stu- performance as a public concert occurred at ’s owned the animal. After all, I’ m sure the “don’t look a dents as well as members of his ensembles. This meant derived from the santur. Rudaki Hall in 1989. gift horse in the mouth” adage applies equally well in the that their line-ups hardly altered at all, in contrast with During the 1960s and 1970s he recorded a number During that period of silence, he continued to Middle East as it does here! the volatile changes that affected other contemporary of albums for French labels. Among his albums still teach privately. The goat joined us at our tea stop in a small mountain Persian groups. available are two volumes devoted to the works of Payvar’s first marriage had ended (amicably) due village near the middle of nowhere. I was intrigued by He founded his own school of performance for tar player . to the “complications” that resulted from being mar- the water supply which came straight from either springs the santur, with a novel emphasis on arpeggiated Born 1932 in Tehran to a wealthy family, both his ried to a foreigner. While visiting his daughter (and or the snow on the mountains through a clever channel figures reflecting an openness to “Western” influ- father and grandfather played santur and violin, and only child) from that union in in 1998, he suf- system. When we arrived the sluice gates (small pieces of ence. Another innovation that caused controversy were associated with the great musicians of their fered a stroke that paralyzed one side of his body metal held in place with stones) was set up in a fashion among some traditionalists was his use of felt on eras. and forced him to give up performing. Although to feed water to ‘our’ side of the street. As we supped the hammers used to strike the instrument’s strings. By the age of 17, Payvar had begun formal music severely disabled, he continued to mentor younger our chai the water supply man changed plates over and This resulted in a softer, less metallic tone that was study with the maestro Abu’l-Hasan Saba. It took musicians from his home till the end of his life on De- shoveled the stones into their place so as to feed the ice suggestive of the piano – itself thought to have been him six years to master the radif – the complete rep- cember 9 in Tehran. cold fresh water to the other side of town.