Shiite Muslims beat their chests during Ashura
© AFP Louisa Gouliamaki KARBALA, Iraq (AFP) - The rite of "tatbir", which leaves its followers drenched in blood, is the climax of 10 days of ceremonies marking Ashura, which marks Imam Hussein's death at the hands of armies of the Sunni caliph Yazid in 680.
About two million Shiite pilgrims were in Karbala, 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Baghdad and site of a revered shrine to Imam Hussein and his half-brother Imam Abbas, for Saturday's ceremonies, Karbala governor Akil al-Khazali told a news conference.
His numbers could not be independently verified.
Drums and trumpets sounded from early morning around the two shrines, announcing the start of the day's processions and prayers.
The streets quickly filled up with the throngs of pilgrims -- men and women dressed mainly in black -- who have invaded the holy city for the past week.
But, unlike other days, zealots forming up behind red and green streamers had exchanged the black clothing of mourning for white, the colour of sacrifice.
And as soon as the first rays of dawn glinted on the gilded domes of the two shrines, the penitents launched into rhythmic dancing to the sound of drums, striking their foreheads with each drum beat with a large blade.
Shiite Muslims flagellate themselves during the Ashura
© AFP Louisa Gouliamaki Before the fascinated eyes of tens of thousands of pilgrims, still shivering from having spent a freezing night under the stars, the faces and white breastplates of the tatbir devotees were quickly dripping with blood.
"I do this to pay homage to Imam Hussein," said a man who gave his name only as Hassan, explaining that it is an act of atonement.
"I cry the tears of blood and of love for he who was sacrificed," added Hassan, a plumber from Karbala, his face covered in dried blood.
The entire 10-day period of Ashura is devoted to the memory of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed who having died in an unequal battle, has come to symbolise the fight for justice in the face of tyranny.
Other ceremonies involved devotional prayers and self-flagellation by endless processions of pilgrims.
Parades followed one after another for hours on Saturday on the vast esplanade connecting the shrines of Imam Abbas and Imam Hussein.
Cries of "Haidar, Haidar", another name for Imam Ali, father of Imam Hussein, filled the air, along with chants of "Hussein, Hussein, Hussein", the beating of drums, the sound of trumpets and the rattle of sabres.
"If people decide they want to do this for their own good, no one should stop them," said Mohammed Hassan Charistani, a Karbala cleric while watching a tatbir ceremony.
Shiite men cut their scalps with machetes during the Ashura
© AFP "There is no need for a regulation, or fatwa, on the subject."
The religious community is divided on the practice, which for some gives Shiism a violent and negative image.
For a medic at the gateway to the Imam Hussein shrine, who gave his name only as Ahmad, the tatbir rite is excessive and worrying.
"This year we have already had to give first aid to about 1,000 people who fainted," he said. "More and more young people practise tatbir. It is not a good thing."
The Ashura ceremonies wound up with a re-enactment on a large field of the battle for Karbala, depicting how Imam Hussein and 69 other Shiite leaders stood up against the armies of the caliph, vastly outnumbered.
They drew to a close with the "run" in which thousands of pilgrims hurried through the streets, symbolically demonstrating their willingness to join the fight alongside the revered imam.
Fleets of buses from early afternoon began taking the pilgrims, many of whom had walked to Karbala from across the country, back to their homes.
©AFP