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Brisk tazia sales brighten lives of makers in Lucknow
Some 80 families engaged in traditional tazia-making, are happy following the brisk sale of tazias this year
Muharram is a time of mourning but the brisk sale of tazias—the replicas of the mausoleum of Imam Hussain – has brightened the lives of the city’s traditional tazia makers, after two years of a pandemic-induced lull.
“Similar to other trades, tazia-making too touched its all-time low in the last two years. Thanks to Allah, as things get back on track, there is a long queue of tazia buyers at the Tazia Mandi in Kazmain,” said Sarfaraz Mirza, a traditional tazia-maker at Kazmain.
Mirza said that the Covid-19 crisis had almost paralysed tazia-makers. “But the rush of customers this year is a clear sign that things are returning to normal,” said Mirza.
Not only Mirza but some 80 other families, settled in the compound of Rauza-e-Kazmain, engaged in traditional tazia-making, are happy following the brisk sale of tazias this year. Rauza-e-Kazmain is the 19th era structure in the Old City area that is said to be a replica of the tomb of Hazrat Musa Al-Kazim and his grandson, the ninth imam Hazrat Taqi Al-Jawwad in Iraq.
Begum Tahira, a traditional tazia-maker, whose family has been making tazias since ages, said that each family prepares around 1,500 to 2,000 tazias, depending upon the amount they want to put in. Tazias are prepared from bamboo sticks, glossy paper and other decorative items and cost anything from ₹10 to ₹40,000.
However, she said that it’s not easy to prepare a tazia. “It’s an art which requires expertise and experience, which tazia-makers have acquired over generations. We start making tazias much before Muharram. And this is work in which the entire family gets involved as a team,” said Tahira, a traditional tazia-maker at Rauza-e-Kazmain.
Rauza-e-Kazmain’s premises also serves as the biggest ‘mandi’ of tazias, of all shapes and sizes. In Lucknow, the tazias are buried in Talkatora Karbala, in Purana Najaf, Kala Imambada while people of Sunni faith bury them at Phool Katora in Mahanagar area of Lucknow.
Importance of Tazia
Keeping tazias is a ritual among people of all faiths, (especially Shias) during Muharram.
Nawab Jafar Mir Abdullah, a member of the royal family of Awadh, highlighting the importance of tazias during Muharram said that during Muharram, Shia houses should keep tazias in their houses. “Those who do not have enough space often convert a small portion of their house to keep the tazia, commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussain in battle of Karbala,” said Abdullah.
“Mostly, the tazias are buried on the 10th Muharram, while some families bury them on Chehellum—the 40th day of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein and some bury it on the last day of Muharram,” Abdullah added.
