Chak Chak (Pir-e Sabz) Shrine

🕰️When was it built?

The exact date of the shrine building is not known. The belief about its origin goes back to the fall of the Sasanians, but that religious tradition does not tell us when the building itself was put up.

🏛️What was it built for?

Chak Chak is a place of pilgrimage and prayer for Zoroastrians. Every year, starting on 14 June, they gather here for four days of prayer and celebration. Rooms called khileh were built for pilgrims to rest in.

👀What you will see

• Water drips from the rock wall and, instead of running onto the ground, is led into a storage tank.
• The khileh are rest rooms built so that pilgrims can stay beside the shrine.
• In one of the rooms of the complex there is a well more than 50 metres deep.
• The dripping rock is limestone, and the water seeps out through its cracks.

💡Something interesting

In Zoroastrian belief, Nikbanu, a daughter of Yazdegerd, fled from invaders, took refuge in this mountain and vanished. It is a religious story. Her maid Gohar Banu appears in the same story and is linked to the shrine of Pir-e Harisht, a few kilometres away.

🎒Good to know before you go

• Take off your shoes and cover your head before entering the place of prayer; this is the shrine's custom.