The Imam Reza shrine ( romanized: Haram-e Emâm Rezâ, lit. ’Sanctuary of Imam Reza’) is the mausoleum of Ali al-Rida, the eighth Imam in Shia Islam, located in Mashhad, the province of Razavi Khorasan, Iran. As one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, nearly 30 million Muslims making pilgrimages to the shrine every year,the most visited pilgrimage site in Islam.Imam Reza was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. His lineage traces back to Ali via Muhammad’s daughter Fatima, through the line of Husayn. He is part of the chain of mystical authority in Sunni Sufism, making him widely respected in Sunni Islam as well. He is also regarded as a model of asceticism in Sufism. Uyoun Akhbar Al-Ridha have recorded miracles which have occurred at the shrine.
The shrine covers an area of 1,200,000 square meters, making it the third largest mosque in the world, after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. The Goharshad Mosque, the Astan Quds Razavi Central Museum, The Central Library of Astan Quds Razavi, and the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, are also contained within the complex. The complex was added to Iran’s National Heritage List on 6 January 1932, and on 2 February 2017, it was added to Iran’s tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.Also buried within the shrine are members of the Timurid, Safavid and Qajar dynasties, alongside the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, polymath Sheikh Bahāʾī, Crown Prince Abbas Mirza, and many other notable political figures, scholars, and clerics. The city of Mashhad has been named the Cultural Capital of the Islamic World by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation .
The Tomb of Ferdowsi romanized: Ârâmgâh-e Ferdowsi) is a tomb complex composed of a white marble base, and a decorative edifice erected in honour of the Persian poet Ferdowsi located in Tus, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran. It was built in the early 1930s, and mainly uses elements of Achaemenid architecture to demonstrate Iran’s rich culture and history. The construction of the mausoleum as well as its aesthetic design is a reflection of the cultural, and geo-political status of Iran at the time.
Background
Ferdowsi, the influential Persian poet and author of the Persian epic, Shahnameh died in 1020 AD in Tus, Iran (Persia), in the same city in which he was born.During his life time, Ferdowsi was not recognised for all his literary contributions. It was only after his death that his poems won him admiration. For hundreds of years, his resting place was nothing more than a minor dome-shrine erected by a Ghaznavid ruler of Khorasan, without any permanent edifice in place in the garden of his house where Ferdowsi’s daughter had originally buried him.
In the early 20th century, Iran began to realise his critical role in defining the identity of Iran.It was not until 1934 that the Iranian government, then under the control of Reza Shah, first Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty, recognized the cultural and literary value of Ferdowsi and erected a permanent tomb in his honour. A millennial celebration was also held for the poet, to which were invited scholars from several countries, including Soviet Tajikistan, India, Armenia, and Europe (Germany, France, England).
