Pahlevani and zoorkhaneh rituals

Pahlevani and Zoorkhaneh rituals (Pahlavani Sport / Zoorkhaneh Sport) is the name inscribed by UNESCO for Varzesh-e Pahlavāni (Persian: آیین پهلوانی و زورخانه‌ای 'heroic sport') or Varzesh-e Bāstāni (ورزش باستانی 'ancient sport'), a traditional system of athletics and a form of martial arts originally used to train warriors in Iran (Persia). Outside Iran, zoorkhanehs can now also be found in Azerbaijan, and Afghanistan, and were introduced into Iraq in the mid-19th century by the Iranian immigrants, where they seem to have existed until the 1980s before disappearing. It combines martial arts, calisthenics, strength training and music. It contains elements of pre-Islamic and post-Islamic culture of Iran (particularly Zoroastrianism and Gnosticism) with the spirituality of Persian Shia Islam and Sufism. Practiced in a domed structure called the zurkhāneh, training sessions consist mainly of ritual gymnastic movements and climax with the core of combat practice, a style of folk wrestling called koshti pahlavāni.

History

Traditional Iranian wrestling (koshti) dates back to ancient Persia and was said to have been practiced by Rustam, Iranian hero of the Shahnameh epic. Grappling for combat was considered the particular specialty of the zourkhāneh. The original purpose of these institutions was to train men as warriors and instill them with a sense of national pride in anticipation for the coming battles. The zourkhaneh system of training is what is now known as varzesh-e bastani, and its particular form of wrestling was called koshti pahlevani, after the Parthian word pahlevan meaning hero.

Following the spread of Shia Islam, and particularly after the development of Sufism in the eighth century, varzesh-e pahlavani absorbed philosophical and spiritual components from it.