2.6K Tazias on Ahmedabad roads on Sunday

Artisans and Muslim youth in the city were seen giving final touches to Tazias for Muharram on Sunday. The city will witness a procession with huge replicas of Imam Sahab ki Karbala, a religious place for the Muslim community. Preparations were being made for more than six months as every locality ensured that best decorations and materials are used for the occasion.

Apart from 93 big Tazias, around 2,500 smaller ones will be part of this grand procession. Describing his Tazia, Shamshedbhai of Jamalpur said, “I made a replica of Imam Sahab ka Mazaar where he sacrificed his life. It took us seven months to make the 18-feet-tall structure.” He used bamboo and silver-coloured papers. The structure has mechanical settings which can help shrink its size while passing through narrow lanes.

Elaborating on the procession, JV Momin, chairman of Tazia committee, said, “Apart from decorated Tazias, there will also be 32 akhadas, 78 teams to play drums (chhayyams), 18 camel carts, 12 decorated trucks and 10 groups who would grieve during the procession (maatam).

Another artisan, Zakir Hussain of Jamalpur, talked about the 14-feet structure that he worked on. “This structure was made in 1984 with silver and gold coating on top of it. Since then, we polish the structure every year.” Around 40 kg of silver and 40 tola of gold was used to coat it in 1984.

While gold and silver coatings have been used in some Tazias, one of them is made of German silver. Kamel Momin, who has been making and polishing structures for four years said, “This structure is made of different metals, mainly German silver. Also, nickel and a coating of thin sheet of gold have been used to decorate it.”