Publish Date: 25 February 2004 - 14:31

TEHRAN Feb. 25 (Mehr News Agency) -- “The tents of the nomads of this province are special, just like Turkmen and Qashqa’i nomads who have their own special tents. The (East Azerbaijan) tent is called Alachiq and is a symbol of the nomads of the region,” says Siavosh Qanbari, head of the East Azerbaijan Nomad Affairs Office.

“The Alachiq has its own special form and decoration. The nomads set the whole tent up from the formesh; formesh is a type of chest, which is woven by the nomads of the region in the shape of a box and decorated with designs and pictures. They put their livelihood equipment in it and lean against it when they sit down,” he added.

 

“The Alachiq has a wooden frame made from a type of flexible tree in the forests of Arasbaran and the north which is called Chubukh; the Chubukhs fit into holes in a round apparatus by the name of Qalbirak (a circle-shaped frame) and are tied into place. Felt is then used to cover the frame,” said Qanbari.

 

Qanbari also stated, “Alachiqs have a circulation system, smoke from the heating or cooking fire is released from the tent from the middle of the Qalbirak. There are straw mats around the Alachiq, which are used in the summer when the sides of the felt are raised in the hot weather allowing for privacy in the interior of the Alachiqs and preventing livestock from entering.”

 

JS/DWN/IS
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MNA