Description
The purpose of the current study, besides describing the Khaled Nabi shrine and the
reasons and motivations behind the visits to the shrine, is to elaborate its importance and meaning for
the Turkmen community with regard to cultural identity in modern Iran. In addition, the possibilities of the
classification of the visitors at the shrine, according to the tourist-pilgrim model will be also considered
International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research
Typologies of the visitors at Khaled Nabi shrine, Iran: tourists or pilgrims?
Mehdi Ebadi
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Typologies of the visitors at Khaled Nabi
shrine, Iran: tourists or pilgrims?
Mehdi Ebadi
Mehdi Ebadi is a PhD
Candidate based at
Institute of Human
Geography, University of
Heidelberg, Heidelberg,
Germany.
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of the current study, besides describing the Khaled Nabi shrine and the
reasons and motivations behind the visits to the shrine, is to elaborate its importance and meaning for
the Turkmen community with regard to cultural identity in modern Iran. In addition, the possibilities of the
classi?cation of the visitors at the shrine, according to the tourist-pilgrim model will be also considered.
Design/methodology/approach – Because of the complexity of the tourismissues, for the collection of
data for this research, the author has relied on both qualitative and qualitative methods, notably general
observation, participant observation and in-depth interviews with key persons at the shrine.
Furthermore, to get some insight in the general opinion, a total of 180 questionnaires that contained
open- and close-ended questions have been distributed among Turkmen and non-Turkmen pilgrims/
visitors in the age group of 18-80 years, of which 100 were completed. Therefore, observations were
made for a whole week’s cycle to record variations during the same season.
Findings – Results of the study indicate that, because of the character of Khaled Nabi shrine,
visitors with varieties of motivations like religious, semi-religious and secular, do visit Khaled Nabi
and the shrine takes on a variety of functions for its visitors. The research speci?es that drawing an
exact line between the visitors proved to be improper. Therefore, to classify the visitors, the
tourist-pilgrim continuum, being the most proper model, was applied. Accordingly, six categories of
religious pilgrims, spiritual pilgrims/tourists, ecotourists, ethnic tourists, Turkmen cultural/historical
tourists and non-Turkmen cultural/historical tourists have been created.
Research limitations/implications – In regard to the research many problems also appeared.
Perhaps the most dif?cult part was overcoming all sorts of practical and bureaucratic hurdles of doing
research in Iran which can be quite challenging at times. It is even harder when the research is on ethnic
or religious minorities, which is deemed – without exception – by the Iranian authorities “sensitive”.
Consequently, for example, in practice, to not attract undesirable attention of the of?cials, the author,
instead of putting direct questions, did it through participant observation or informal chats with the
visitors.
Originality/value – Despite the huge amount of publications related to pilgrimage and tourism, there is
still a gap between abstract theory and empirical research. Tending to be general in nature, the studies
dedicated to speci?c geographical regions with their own unique history and environment are rather
few. This lack of tourismstudies is even greater when the study is related to zeyarat (religious motivated
in the Islamic contexts) which, despite its importance and wide extended practice, has been mostly
ignored in tourism and geographic literature. The present study features one such area that is (almost)
unknown within the community of tourism and geography researchers.
Keywords Iran, Cultural tourism, Imamzadeh, Khaled Nabi, Religious pilgrimage, Turkmen Sahra,
Zeyarat
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO, 1995-2012), during the past four
decades, the amount of international tourism worldwide has increased incredibly from 25
million in 1950 to ?1 billion in 2012 (domestic tourism is not included). One of the most
important but rather ignored forms of tourism is religious motivated travels which are known
as religious tourism or pilgrimage. Since early days in the history of mankind, hundreds of
Received 15 May 2013
Revised 12 November 2013,
28 May 2014
Accepted 10 June 2014
PAGE 310 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH VOL. 8 NO. 3, 2014, pp. 310-321, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1750-6182 DOI 10.1108/IJCTHR-05-2013-0033
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thousands of sacred places, like shrines, temples, churches, religious festivals, landscape
features, and so on, around the world have been promoted to millions of pilgrims for travel.
Even today in our mobilized and profane modern world, pilgrimage is everywhere. In
academic studies, especially recently, the literature about religious motivated travels has
increased dramatically. There are numerous case studies which indicate the fact that pious
pilgrims on their quest for religious experiences will cross paths with secular tourists who
seek to satisfy their curiosity about the historical or cultural attractions of an ancient sacred
place. Nevertheless, different aspects of these visits and its connection with other form of
travels are still unknown. Two pioneers in pilgrimage studies, Rinschede and Bhardwaj
(1988, p. 11), have long considered pilgrimage as “among the oldest forms of circulation
based upon non-economic factors, although they were greatly facilitated by the
contemporary trade routes” Worldwide, they estimate that ?200 million pilgrims are
participating in international, national and regional pilgrimages annually, which consist of
150 million Christian, and ?40 million Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and Moslems. Other
scholars like Eade and Sallnow (1991, p. 3) state that: “pilgrimage as an institution cannot
actually be understood as a universal or homogeneous phenomenon but should instead be
deconstructed into historically and culturally speci?c instances”. In other words, because
of a special characteristic of pilgrimage, which is very much affected by the local culture
and traditions, to know its exact character, regional studies appear to be important. In this
current study about the enigmatic shrine of Kha? led Nabi, in addition to shrine description,
different aspects of the visits to Kha? led Nabi, such as demographic features of the visitors,
their motivations and behaviors, will be considered. Moreover, the possibility of the
classi?cation of the visitors according to tourist-pilgrim continuum model will be
investigated. The aim of the current research is, in addition to describing the reasons and
motivations behind the visits to the shrine of Kha? led Nabi, examining the possibilities of the
classi?cation of the visitors at the shrine, according to tourist-pilgrim models. Because of
the complexity of the tourism and hospitality issues for the collection of data for this
research, the author has relied on several traditional qualitative and qualitative methods,
notably general observation, participant observation and in-depth interviews with key
persons at the shrine. Furthermore, to get some insight in the general opinion, a total of 180
questionnaires that contained open- and close-ended questions have been distributed
among Turkmen and non-Turkmen pilgrims/visitors in the age group of 18-80, of which
100[1] were completed. The ?eld work took place during April to June 2011 and also
August 2011. To obtain the best results, it appeared convenient to conduct the
investigation in such a way as to include periods of maximum, average and minimum in?ux.
Therefore, observations were made for a whole week’s cycle to record variations during the
same season. The gathered data were later analyzed with the help of the SPSS software.
Literature review
In Iran, religious pilgrimage has a long tradition. Numerous sacred places with varieties of
rituals and traditions, which are practiced among the pilgrims all around the country,
indicate on its antiquity (before Islamic periods). In the past decades, especially after the
Islamic revolution of 1979, people have been prompted to do pilgrimage to holy shrines.
Accordingly, several shrines and holy places have been restored or developed. Because
of the antiquity of some of holy places (like Zoroastrian temples and Armenian churches),
in addition to pilgrims, cultural tourists are also attracted to visit them. Among the most
practiced forms of religious pilgrimage in Iran is the pilgrimage (which is known as zeya? rat)
to several thousands of shrines, which are known as zeya? ratgah (lit. place of visit) or
Imamzadeh. Zeya? rat, in fact, after hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) is the second form of
pilgrimage. Bhardwaj who has done research on the several common features of the
zeya? rat de?nes it as a “non-hajj pilgrimage” which expresses regional Islamic culture of
population especially in the non-Arab countries (Bhardwaj, 1998, p. 71). These voluntary
pilgrimages are akin to pilgrimage travel in Christianity, which people do as a way of getting
closer to God, gaining blessings in their lives and celebrating famous ?gures from history.
VOL. 8 NO. 3 2014 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH PAGE 311
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In another words, the hajj could be considered to be the “of?cial” or “normative” form of
Islamic pilgrimage with static rituals, whereas the zeya? rat is a “popular” or “alternative” form
of pilgrimage which is practiced differently among people from different cultures. In fact,
zeya? rat with its unwritten rules manifests the variegated culture of Islam in various regions.
The questions of the precise nature of tourism and pilgrimage and their multifarious
relationships were extensively discussed and interpreted by several tourism scholars from
varieties of disciplines. Researchers working in disciplines as varied as geography,
anthropology, economy, marketing, sociology, history, theology, psychology, politics
studies, law, environment and so on have tried to de?ne and explain the precise nature of
this activity. One may subscribe to the observation of two prominent experts in the ?eld of
tourism research, Smith (2001) and Murphy (1985) who indicate: “there are many
de?nitions of tourism as there are disciplines and investigations” (Smith, 2001, p. 15) and
“there are as many types of tourist as there are motives for travel” (Murphy, 1985, p. 5).
Like tourism, the multifaceted phenomenon of pilgrimage is also frequently mentioned in the
sphere of travel. Its interdisciplinary character has engendered a lively debate among scholars,
who used several approaches to capture pilgrimage in a few clear-cut and generally valid
de?nitions. It is agreed generally that traditional pilgrimage is a journey inspired by spiritual or
religious reasons to a “hallowed place” that could consist three features of:
1. elements of the natural and geographical environment, such as mountains, rivers,
springs, trees, caves, lakes, islands, groves or even animals;
2. religious edi?ces, such as churches, cathedrals, mosques, sites of revelations or the
activities of the religious founders, temples, synagogue or shrines; and
3. general venue for religious and spiritual activities, ritual or festivals (Hosta and Limon,
2009; Davidson et al., 1990; Cohen, 2006; Morinis, 1992; Shackley, 2006).
Reviewing literature, nearly all scholars acknowledged the close relationship between
leisure tourism and pilgrimage (especially in the industries countries). In this regard, for
instance, Schramm (2004, pp. 134-137) notes: “rigid distinction between (serious) pilgrims
[. . .] and (playful) tourist [. . .] have become blurred”. Centers of religious pilgrimage, such
as Lourdes in France, have virtually grown into tourist attractions. To our knowledge, there
appears to be three main strands of conjecture about the tourism–pilgrimage connection.
The ?rst groups of works deal with the in-distinguishability of tourists and pilgrims
according to their behavior, especially in modern mass-pilgrimage or tourism contexts. In
this regard, Collins-Kreiner and Kliot (2000) and Zhang et al. (2007) believe this connection
is due to the conceptions which consider the religion as a cultural activity and a potential
for special forms of tourism. Shinde (2006), close to these scholars, indicates that in
modern times, many people travel in quest of achieving both recreational and religious
need; therefore, tourism and pilgrimage increasingly overlap. Stausberg (2011, p. 167)
believes: “Religions also provide entertainment for tourist – not only by supplying
attractions including sites, places, and spaces or the display of religious groups and
specialists, but also by staging performances”. This approach is more or less followed by
scholars, such as Fleischer (2000), Weidenfeld (2006), Olsen and Timothy (2006), Gupta
(1999), Eade (1992), Smith (1992), Kurzinger (2012) and Renschede (1986).
The second approach which was followed by scholars like Hovi (2010, p. 212), Murray and
Graham (1997) conclude that although pilgrimage and tourism have a lot in common, not
every tourist is a pilgrim and not every pilgrim is a tourist. In a similar opinion, Pfaffenberger
(1983, p. 72) in his study about the visitors to temples and religious sites in Sri Lanka notes
that it is the language used by the visitors which distinguishes the two groups. The pilgrim’s
language includes, “a language of miracles, of faith, of wholesome encounters with divinity
and the ecstasy”, rather tourists speak of recreation, leisure and outdoor appreciation.
And ?nally, the third group of scholars similar to the previous group attempt to classify the
tourists and pilgrimage. But unlikely, instead of a black–white classi?cation of tourism–
PAGE 312 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH VOL. 8 NO. 3 2014
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pilgrimage (which put tourism and pilgrimage as protagonists of completely opposed and
incompatible realities), they classify them as a continuum. The complexity of this
classi?cation is best described by (Santos, 2003, p. 36) who indicates:
[. . .] although, a tour or itinerary of religious tourism (?pilgrimage) may include participation in
religious celebrations, it is not in itself an act of worship [. . .] but this kind of tourism, in addition to
participation in acts of worship, often allowthe traveler a greater knowledge of religious phenomena
and sites, and a more profound comprehension of the caused that gave rise to them.
To describe this, she introduces a diagram (Figure 1) in which cultural tourism has the most
common relationship with religious forms of travels. Religious tourism in her diagram
includes movements in which religious motives simultaneously coexist with other common
different types of tourism.
In fact, as claimed by these groups of researchers, in many cases, tourists and pilgrims do
display similar goals and characters. Therefore, the borders line between different forms of
tourism (i.e. cultural tourism, ecotourism, ethnic tourism) and pilgrimage particularly among
the so-called secular pilgrimage (i.e. cultural and political pilgrimage) are blurring. The
shrine of Kha? led Nabi is one of the relative known zeya? ratgah (shrine) which recently
has been developed from a distant shrine to the most popular shrine of Turkmen of Iran
(Plate 1). The area of Kha? led Nabi itself consists of three major shrines. In the ?rst place,
we ?nd the tomb of the actual namesake of the place, Khalid ibn al-Sinan, or simply called
by locals as Kha? led Nabi (ob. 528 A.D.), a legendary Christian holy man who originally
came from South Arabia. It is a rather modest square construction, located in the
southeastern ?ank of the Kopet Dag mountain range, on top of the so-called “God
Mountain” (tangry-dag). The second shrine is dedicated to ‘AlimBaba (“Sagacious Father”)
and the third shrine is in honour of Chupan (“Shepherd”) ‘Ata. Not far from the alleged tomb
of Kha? led Nabi, a former burial mound is located as well (Plate 2). This burial mound is
strewn with mostly phallic-shaped gravestones, which appear to be of great (i.e.
pre-Islamic) antiquity. The popularity of Kha? led Nabi among the Turkmens has also
attracted the attention and curiosity of other non-Turkmens, such as Iranians (domestic and
from abroad) and foreign tourists. Accordingly, despite its relative remote setting, every
year ?90,000 travelers do visit this shrine.
Results and discussions
Generally, the visitors of Kha? led Nabi can be divided in three groups of local Turkmens,
domestic non-Turkmen Iranians and foreign visitors. The results of the questionnaires which
have been distributed in Kha? led Nabi shrine indicate that the visitors are mainly male (85
per cent) than female (15 per cent), mostly Sunni Turkmen (66 per cent) than Shia
Non-Turkmen (34 per cent), relatively young (65 per cent of the visitors are –?40 years of
age) and mostly married (52 per cent). The visitors’ age curve shows that 8 per cent of the
Figure 1 Diagram of the interrelations between tourism and religion
VOL. 8 NO. 3 2014 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH PAGE 313
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Plate 1 The shrine of Chupan Ata and Kopet Dagh mountains (“thousands hill”), April
5, 2014
Plate 2 Historical graveyards near Kha? led Nabi, August 20, 2011
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visitors are aged ?20 years; 31 per cent of the visitors are between 21 and 30 years; 26 per
cent of the visitors are between 31 and 40 years; 23 per cent of all visitors range between
the ages 41 and 50; 10 per cent are aged between 51 and 60 years. Only 2 per cent of the
visitors are ?61 years of age (Figure 2).
The statistics indicate that the major proportion of the visitors (52 per cent) who have been
questioned, have visited the shrine for the ?rst time. Of the 48 per cent of the rest who
visited the shrine before, majority of them (32 per cent) declared that they visited the shrine
during the past 30 years. This fact designates the chronological pilgrimage process of the
shrine which for the most part is developed and is popular among the Turkmens after the
Islamic Revolution of 1979. The visitors travel with varieties of motivations to the Kha? led
Nabi shrine. Accordingly, the main purpose of 32 per cent of (all) the visitors to the Kha? led
Nabi shrine is pilgrimage, 26 per cent have recreational (non-religious) motivations and 42
per cent of the rest are interested due to both religious and recreational reasons (Figure 3).
But the motivations for the visits do not have a similar pattern among Turkmens and
non-Turkmens. As can be seen in Figure 4, 42 per cent of Turkmens visited Kha? led Nabi
just for “sacred” (pilgrimage) and the majority of them(52 per cent) combined “sacred” with
“secular” motivations. Only 6 per cent of the Turkmens visited the site as “secular”
(non-religious) tourists.
In contrast, a minority of 12 per cent of non-Turkmens visited the shrine merely for “sacred”
reasons, 21 per cent of them tended to combine “sacred” with “secular” motivations. But
overall, a clear majority of them (67 per cent) visited Kha? led Nabi for merely “secular”
(non-religious) reasons, see Figure 5.
Figure 2 Male and female visitors at Kha? led Nabi shrine
Figure 3 Form of activities among all the visitors
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Like many other pilgrimage sites, the shrine of Kha? led Nabi because of its geographical
characteristics (as described in detail before) has a multipurpose function as well. The
outcomes of the questionnaire indicate that 94 per cent of Turkmen visitors believe in the
religiosity of the site and stated that “it is the burial place of one the God’s messenger
‘Piambar-i khoda’”. But there is a discrepancy among non-Turkmems. Although 41 per cent
of the non-Turkmen visitors believe that Kha? led Nabi is a pilgrimage site, their primary
motive for visit was not a religious pilgrimage. The reason for this contradiction (as some of
them have inscribed) is that they perceived Kha? led Nabi as religious shrine just for local
Turkmen and not as their own selves (Figure 6).
In addition to its religious appeal, the sanctuary of Kha? led Nabi offers several other forms
of entertainment that are a draw for visitors with non-religious motivations. It is essential to
consider that these motivations are changing. Often the visitors may seek multiple
experiences even on short holidays and switch their motivations unconsciously as they visit
a destination. They might also not even be aware about the different academic
classi?cations for tourism and pilgrimage. Accordingly, after analyzing the motivations and
behavior of the visitors carefully, they have been classi?ed to the following ?ve categories/
forms of “tourism” and “pilgrimage” are recognized. To capture the fuzziness of the
motivations, these zones are shown with dotted lines (Figure 7).
Figure 4 The primary purposes of visits among Turkmen travelers
Figure 5 The primary purposes of visits among non-Turkmen travelers
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1. Religious pilgrimage: these pilgrims are solely preoccupied with the holiness of Kha? led
Nabi. They visit the shrine out of religious belief, and their main activity is praying. They
come to Kha? led Nabi speci?cally to ask for help and assistance in problems related to
personal ?nance, health and fertility or ?nding a suitable partner (for themselves or for
their children). The believers who have such a vow, tie colored rags on the branches
of a tree next to the shrines to have their wishes granted. Those who have their wish
granted would then donate a small carpet to the shrine or sacri?ce a lamb or calf,
depending on the nature of the wish.
2. Cultural pilgrimage: despite the fact that 41 per cent of the non-Turkmen visitors do
believe in the holiness of the site (Figures 6), unlike the Turkmen religious pilgrims,
these non-Turkmen visitors do not come to the site to perform a religious ritual (e.g.
making a vow). Nonetheless, they are more interested in the spiritual atmosphere of the
sanctuary. These visitors also show interest in the natural and historical attractions of
the site. They can therefore be classi?ed as “cultural pilgrims”.
Figure 6 Perceptions of the Turkmen and non-Turkmen about Kha? led Nabi shrine
Figure 7 The sacred–secular axis of different forms of activities at Kha? led Nabi shrine
VOL. 8 NO. 3 2014 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH PAGE 317
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3. Nostalgic pilgrimage: the motives of this category of visitors, who are closer to the
sacred end of the continuum, are mostly for religio-cultural reasons. In other words, this
group of visitors, which includes young and middle-aged Turkmens who belong to
middle- or high-?nancial situations, instead of the pure religious motivation are mostly
interested in the historical and cultural aspects of the site. Among their motivations for
visit, we encounter some concepts like a visit to con?rm their roots, satisfying nostalgic
feeling about the good past days, quest of identity, educational reasons, family
togetherness or similar. These Turkmen visitors, who usually have an academic
educational background, visit Kha? led Nabi in search of their cultural identity and
strengthen the bonds with their kinsmen. Simultaneously, they might be interested in
nature as well. Because of the limitation of Turkmen in modern Iranian society, Kha? led
Nabi offers them a chance for cultural unity through pilgrimage or simply gathering
together (without being under the constant scrutiny of the local authorities or other
Iranian citizens.) In fact, they have transferred and copied their own ancestral central
Asian values and customs to the site and have come to accept Kha? led Nabi as their
own original sacred place. According to pilgrimage classi?cation, we shall classify
them as nostalgic pilgrims.
4. Adventure tourism: adventure tourists are those who seek some excitement in their
lives, including a sense of danger (for some). This segment ranges from soft
adventures, such as bird-watching activities, to hard adventure, such as overnight
wilderness hikes, and other nature-based sports. This category consists of a small
minority of visitors – Turkmens and non-Turkmens. These “adventure tourists” are
certainly not interested in the religiosity of Kha? led Nabi, but they are rather motivated
to visit the surrounding nature (both fauna and ?ora).
5. Cultural (secular) tourism: this category includes mostly middle-aged non-Turkmen
Iranians who come from big cities. As expected, they generally do not believe very
much in the perceived sacredness of Kha? led Nabi and have recreational motivations.
These visitors, who have heard about the antiquity of the site, are at the site just to
satisfy their curiosity in exoticism. They seek out interactions with the exotic and
unfamiliar culture and traditions of the Turkmens. They usually have a fairly super?cial
knowledge of Turkmen’s culture and customs, and they come to the place mainly from
hearsay (including Internet and touristic handbooks like Lonely Planet). These “cultural
tourists” are often part of an organized tour and come to the site speci?cally to watch
and meet other people (Turkmens in this case) whose lifestyle differs greatly from their
own. Especially during festive occasions, Kha? led Nabi attracts many curious
non-Turkmen visitors. Sometimes they do have certain cultural, educational and/or
ecological concerns.
Conclusion and implications
Zeya? rat, or non-obligatory tradition of pilgrimage to the so-called “holy shrines” rather than
Mecca, is very popular in the Islamic countries, especially among regions with
Turco-Iranian cultures. In Iran, visiting (pilgrimage) the holy places has a long history and
goes back to pre-Islamic antiques times. In modern times, especially after the Islamic
Revolution 1979, pilgrimage has been promoted by the government. Accordingly, during
this period, with support of several public organizations, ?7,000 shrines (or as it known as
Imamzadeh in Iran) have been renovated or rebuilt (BBC Persian, 2013) Among ?100
shrines which are located in Golestan Provice, north east of Iran, the shrine of Kha? led Nabi
is the most well-known one which, especially during the past 35 years, developed from an
unknown, remote place to the most important gathering center of Turkmen. Due to its
enigmatic history, each year more than 90,000 people visit the shrine
The results of the research indicate that perhaps, contrary to the prevailing view, the visitors
of the Kha? led Nabi shrine do not consist of exclusively religiously motivated “pilgrims”, but
of various types of visitors. Those with an exclusively religious motivation are actually in the
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minority (32 per cent), whereas the overwhelming majority of the visitors have either secular
(recreational) motivations (26 per cent) or semi-religious incentives (42 per cent). The
non-religious reasons are no doubt related to the geographical backdrop of the shrine with
its beautiful natural scenery (especially in spring), an ancient burial ground and the ethnic
allure of the Turkmens. Generally, the visitors of Kha? led Nabi are mostly Turkmen (65 per
cent), while a sizable minority of the visitors is other non-Turkmen Iranians. Of the Turkmen
visitors, almost half (42 per cent) are mainly there for the religious pilgrimage, while a slim
majority prefers to combine the pilgrimage with a form of tourism (52 per cent). Only to a
very small minority among the Turkmen visitors (4 per cent), a visit to Kha? led Nabi is purely
for secular reasons. Kha? led Nabi is a convenient place for meetings, picnics and/or for
spending a nice day with friends and family. In contrast, most non-Turkmen travelers (58
per cent) which include curious Iranian (both domestic and from abroad) and a few foreign
tourists visit the place for secular reasons. Only 12 per cent of these travelers visit the shrine
for religious reasons. Overall, according to this research, the shrine of Khaled Nabi takes
different tourism functions for its visitors. For its Turkmen visitors it is a place for religious
and nostalgic pilgrimage, but for its non-Turkmen visitors it is a place for exotics, cultural
and creational tourism.
From this study it has become clear that it is often impossible to differentiate the visitors
according to discrete motivations and forms of tourism. On the contrary, they can show
overlap (to a lesser or greater degree). Some categories of travelers may have some
spontaneous motives to be at Kha? led Nabi. For instance, a Turkmen female pilgrim may
initially come just to perform her prayers or religious rituals, but then decides to linger much
longer because she becomes overwhelmed by the stunning scenery and wishes to
immerse herself in the landscape. She thus becomes a spontaneous “adventure tourist”. Or
in another case, a non-Turkmen visitor, who has originally come to see the adjacent ancient
graveyard, can at this stage been considered a “historical” tourist. But he meets the local
Turkmens and become interested in their customs and cultural traditions. Should he be
classi?ed primarily as a “historical tourist” or rather an “ethnic tourist”? Such cases compel
us to ?ne tune our assessment of the motivations of the visitors, perhaps by distinguishing
between primary or intentional motivation and secondary or accidental motivation, which
need to be addressed in another study. But, what is clear is that these switches of
motivations do occur very and sometimes spontaneously or even unconsciously with
overlap in motivations. Hence, in this research, to study the available tourism forms (both
religious and secular), the motivations of the visitors have also been considered. To resolve
the problem of simultaneity and overlaps of the motivations at Kha? led Nabi, the visitors are
classi?ed according to their self-described motivations in the questionnaires. Accordingly,
after analyzing the motivations and behavior of the visitors at Kha? led Nabi and based on the
theoretical conceptions about different forms of pilgrimage (presented in the ?rst chapter),
the visitors have been classi?ed to the ?ve categories/forms of “tourism” and “pilgrimage’
of: “Religious pilgrims”, “cultural pilgrims”, “nostalgic pilgrims”, “adventure tourists” and
“cultural tourists”.
Note
1. The questionnaire focused on the pilgrims’ expression of beliefs, feelings, motivations, behavior,
experience at the site and comprised closed- and open-ended questions. The ?rst part of the
questionnaire elicited the pilgrims’ personal details and characteristics, such as age, sex, origin,
socioeconomic status and religious af?liation. The second part asked about their visit to the site like
their motivations, activities, pattern of visit, behavior, length of stay, etc.
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Corresponding author
Mehdi Ebadi can be contacted at: [email protected]
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doc_722370964.pdf
The purpose of the current study, besides describing the Khaled Nabi shrine and the
reasons and motivations behind the visits to the shrine, is to elaborate its importance and meaning for
the Turkmen community with regard to cultural identity in modern Iran. In addition, the possibilities of the
classification of the visitors at the shrine, according to the tourist-pilgrim model will be also considered
International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research
Typologies of the visitors at Khaled Nabi shrine, Iran: tourists or pilgrims?
Mehdi Ebadi
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Typologies of the visitors at Khaled Nabi
shrine, Iran: tourists or pilgrims?
Mehdi Ebadi
Mehdi Ebadi is a PhD
Candidate based at
Institute of Human
Geography, University of
Heidelberg, Heidelberg,
Germany.
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of the current study, besides describing the Khaled Nabi shrine and the
reasons and motivations behind the visits to the shrine, is to elaborate its importance and meaning for
the Turkmen community with regard to cultural identity in modern Iran. In addition, the possibilities of the
classi?cation of the visitors at the shrine, according to the tourist-pilgrim model will be also considered.
Design/methodology/approach – Because of the complexity of the tourismissues, for the collection of
data for this research, the author has relied on both qualitative and qualitative methods, notably general
observation, participant observation and in-depth interviews with key persons at the shrine.
Furthermore, to get some insight in the general opinion, a total of 180 questionnaires that contained
open- and close-ended questions have been distributed among Turkmen and non-Turkmen pilgrims/
visitors in the age group of 18-80 years, of which 100 were completed. Therefore, observations were
made for a whole week’s cycle to record variations during the same season.
Findings – Results of the study indicate that, because of the character of Khaled Nabi shrine,
visitors with varieties of motivations like religious, semi-religious and secular, do visit Khaled Nabi
and the shrine takes on a variety of functions for its visitors. The research speci?es that drawing an
exact line between the visitors proved to be improper. Therefore, to classify the visitors, the
tourist-pilgrim continuum, being the most proper model, was applied. Accordingly, six categories of
religious pilgrims, spiritual pilgrims/tourists, ecotourists, ethnic tourists, Turkmen cultural/historical
tourists and non-Turkmen cultural/historical tourists have been created.
Research limitations/implications – In regard to the research many problems also appeared.
Perhaps the most dif?cult part was overcoming all sorts of practical and bureaucratic hurdles of doing
research in Iran which can be quite challenging at times. It is even harder when the research is on ethnic
or religious minorities, which is deemed – without exception – by the Iranian authorities “sensitive”.
Consequently, for example, in practice, to not attract undesirable attention of the of?cials, the author,
instead of putting direct questions, did it through participant observation or informal chats with the
visitors.
Originality/value – Despite the huge amount of publications related to pilgrimage and tourism, there is
still a gap between abstract theory and empirical research. Tending to be general in nature, the studies
dedicated to speci?c geographical regions with their own unique history and environment are rather
few. This lack of tourismstudies is even greater when the study is related to zeyarat (religious motivated
in the Islamic contexts) which, despite its importance and wide extended practice, has been mostly
ignored in tourism and geographic literature. The present study features one such area that is (almost)
unknown within the community of tourism and geography researchers.
Keywords Iran, Cultural tourism, Imamzadeh, Khaled Nabi, Religious pilgrimage, Turkmen Sahra,
Zeyarat
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO, 1995-2012), during the past four
decades, the amount of international tourism worldwide has increased incredibly from 25
million in 1950 to ?1 billion in 2012 (domestic tourism is not included). One of the most
important but rather ignored forms of tourism is religious motivated travels which are known
as religious tourism or pilgrimage. Since early days in the history of mankind, hundreds of
Received 15 May 2013
Revised 12 November 2013,
28 May 2014
Accepted 10 June 2014
PAGE 310 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH VOL. 8 NO. 3, 2014, pp. 310-321, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1750-6182 DOI 10.1108/IJCTHR-05-2013-0033
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thousands of sacred places, like shrines, temples, churches, religious festivals, landscape
features, and so on, around the world have been promoted to millions of pilgrims for travel.
Even today in our mobilized and profane modern world, pilgrimage is everywhere. In
academic studies, especially recently, the literature about religious motivated travels has
increased dramatically. There are numerous case studies which indicate the fact that pious
pilgrims on their quest for religious experiences will cross paths with secular tourists who
seek to satisfy their curiosity about the historical or cultural attractions of an ancient sacred
place. Nevertheless, different aspects of these visits and its connection with other form of
travels are still unknown. Two pioneers in pilgrimage studies, Rinschede and Bhardwaj
(1988, p. 11), have long considered pilgrimage as “among the oldest forms of circulation
based upon non-economic factors, although they were greatly facilitated by the
contemporary trade routes” Worldwide, they estimate that ?200 million pilgrims are
participating in international, national and regional pilgrimages annually, which consist of
150 million Christian, and ?40 million Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and Moslems. Other
scholars like Eade and Sallnow (1991, p. 3) state that: “pilgrimage as an institution cannot
actually be understood as a universal or homogeneous phenomenon but should instead be
deconstructed into historically and culturally speci?c instances”. In other words, because
of a special characteristic of pilgrimage, which is very much affected by the local culture
and traditions, to know its exact character, regional studies appear to be important. In this
current study about the enigmatic shrine of Kha? led Nabi, in addition to shrine description,
different aspects of the visits to Kha? led Nabi, such as demographic features of the visitors,
their motivations and behaviors, will be considered. Moreover, the possibility of the
classi?cation of the visitors according to tourist-pilgrim continuum model will be
investigated. The aim of the current research is, in addition to describing the reasons and
motivations behind the visits to the shrine of Kha? led Nabi, examining the possibilities of the
classi?cation of the visitors at the shrine, according to tourist-pilgrim models. Because of
the complexity of the tourism and hospitality issues for the collection of data for this
research, the author has relied on several traditional qualitative and qualitative methods,
notably general observation, participant observation and in-depth interviews with key
persons at the shrine. Furthermore, to get some insight in the general opinion, a total of 180
questionnaires that contained open- and close-ended questions have been distributed
among Turkmen and non-Turkmen pilgrims/visitors in the age group of 18-80, of which
100[1] were completed. The ?eld work took place during April to June 2011 and also
August 2011. To obtain the best results, it appeared convenient to conduct the
investigation in such a way as to include periods of maximum, average and minimum in?ux.
Therefore, observations were made for a whole week’s cycle to record variations during the
same season. The gathered data were later analyzed with the help of the SPSS software.
Literature review
In Iran, religious pilgrimage has a long tradition. Numerous sacred places with varieties of
rituals and traditions, which are practiced among the pilgrims all around the country,
indicate on its antiquity (before Islamic periods). In the past decades, especially after the
Islamic revolution of 1979, people have been prompted to do pilgrimage to holy shrines.
Accordingly, several shrines and holy places have been restored or developed. Because
of the antiquity of some of holy places (like Zoroastrian temples and Armenian churches),
in addition to pilgrims, cultural tourists are also attracted to visit them. Among the most
practiced forms of religious pilgrimage in Iran is the pilgrimage (which is known as zeya? rat)
to several thousands of shrines, which are known as zeya? ratgah (lit. place of visit) or
Imamzadeh. Zeya? rat, in fact, after hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) is the second form of
pilgrimage. Bhardwaj who has done research on the several common features of the
zeya? rat de?nes it as a “non-hajj pilgrimage” which expresses regional Islamic culture of
population especially in the non-Arab countries (Bhardwaj, 1998, p. 71). These voluntary
pilgrimages are akin to pilgrimage travel in Christianity, which people do as a way of getting
closer to God, gaining blessings in their lives and celebrating famous ?gures from history.
VOL. 8 NO. 3 2014 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH PAGE 311
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In another words, the hajj could be considered to be the “of?cial” or “normative” form of
Islamic pilgrimage with static rituals, whereas the zeya? rat is a “popular” or “alternative” form
of pilgrimage which is practiced differently among people from different cultures. In fact,
zeya? rat with its unwritten rules manifests the variegated culture of Islam in various regions.
The questions of the precise nature of tourism and pilgrimage and their multifarious
relationships were extensively discussed and interpreted by several tourism scholars from
varieties of disciplines. Researchers working in disciplines as varied as geography,
anthropology, economy, marketing, sociology, history, theology, psychology, politics
studies, law, environment and so on have tried to de?ne and explain the precise nature of
this activity. One may subscribe to the observation of two prominent experts in the ?eld of
tourism research, Smith (2001) and Murphy (1985) who indicate: “there are many
de?nitions of tourism as there are disciplines and investigations” (Smith, 2001, p. 15) and
“there are as many types of tourist as there are motives for travel” (Murphy, 1985, p. 5).
Like tourism, the multifaceted phenomenon of pilgrimage is also frequently mentioned in the
sphere of travel. Its interdisciplinary character has engendered a lively debate among scholars,
who used several approaches to capture pilgrimage in a few clear-cut and generally valid
de?nitions. It is agreed generally that traditional pilgrimage is a journey inspired by spiritual or
religious reasons to a “hallowed place” that could consist three features of:
1. elements of the natural and geographical environment, such as mountains, rivers,
springs, trees, caves, lakes, islands, groves or even animals;
2. religious edi?ces, such as churches, cathedrals, mosques, sites of revelations or the
activities of the religious founders, temples, synagogue or shrines; and
3. general venue for religious and spiritual activities, ritual or festivals (Hosta and Limon,
2009; Davidson et al., 1990; Cohen, 2006; Morinis, 1992; Shackley, 2006).
Reviewing literature, nearly all scholars acknowledged the close relationship between
leisure tourism and pilgrimage (especially in the industries countries). In this regard, for
instance, Schramm (2004, pp. 134-137) notes: “rigid distinction between (serious) pilgrims
[. . .] and (playful) tourist [. . .] have become blurred”. Centers of religious pilgrimage, such
as Lourdes in France, have virtually grown into tourist attractions. To our knowledge, there
appears to be three main strands of conjecture about the tourism–pilgrimage connection.
The ?rst groups of works deal with the in-distinguishability of tourists and pilgrims
according to their behavior, especially in modern mass-pilgrimage or tourism contexts. In
this regard, Collins-Kreiner and Kliot (2000) and Zhang et al. (2007) believe this connection
is due to the conceptions which consider the religion as a cultural activity and a potential
for special forms of tourism. Shinde (2006), close to these scholars, indicates that in
modern times, many people travel in quest of achieving both recreational and religious
need; therefore, tourism and pilgrimage increasingly overlap. Stausberg (2011, p. 167)
believes: “Religions also provide entertainment for tourist – not only by supplying
attractions including sites, places, and spaces or the display of religious groups and
specialists, but also by staging performances”. This approach is more or less followed by
scholars, such as Fleischer (2000), Weidenfeld (2006), Olsen and Timothy (2006), Gupta
(1999), Eade (1992), Smith (1992), Kurzinger (2012) and Renschede (1986).
The second approach which was followed by scholars like Hovi (2010, p. 212), Murray and
Graham (1997) conclude that although pilgrimage and tourism have a lot in common, not
every tourist is a pilgrim and not every pilgrim is a tourist. In a similar opinion, Pfaffenberger
(1983, p. 72) in his study about the visitors to temples and religious sites in Sri Lanka notes
that it is the language used by the visitors which distinguishes the two groups. The pilgrim’s
language includes, “a language of miracles, of faith, of wholesome encounters with divinity
and the ecstasy”, rather tourists speak of recreation, leisure and outdoor appreciation.
And ?nally, the third group of scholars similar to the previous group attempt to classify the
tourists and pilgrimage. But unlikely, instead of a black–white classi?cation of tourism–
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pilgrimage (which put tourism and pilgrimage as protagonists of completely opposed and
incompatible realities), they classify them as a continuum. The complexity of this
classi?cation is best described by (Santos, 2003, p. 36) who indicates:
[. . .] although, a tour or itinerary of religious tourism (?pilgrimage) may include participation in
religious celebrations, it is not in itself an act of worship [. . .] but this kind of tourism, in addition to
participation in acts of worship, often allowthe traveler a greater knowledge of religious phenomena
and sites, and a more profound comprehension of the caused that gave rise to them.
To describe this, she introduces a diagram (Figure 1) in which cultural tourism has the most
common relationship with religious forms of travels. Religious tourism in her diagram
includes movements in which religious motives simultaneously coexist with other common
different types of tourism.
In fact, as claimed by these groups of researchers, in many cases, tourists and pilgrims do
display similar goals and characters. Therefore, the borders line between different forms of
tourism (i.e. cultural tourism, ecotourism, ethnic tourism) and pilgrimage particularly among
the so-called secular pilgrimage (i.e. cultural and political pilgrimage) are blurring. The
shrine of Kha? led Nabi is one of the relative known zeya? ratgah (shrine) which recently
has been developed from a distant shrine to the most popular shrine of Turkmen of Iran
(Plate 1). The area of Kha? led Nabi itself consists of three major shrines. In the ?rst place,
we ?nd the tomb of the actual namesake of the place, Khalid ibn al-Sinan, or simply called
by locals as Kha? led Nabi (ob. 528 A.D.), a legendary Christian holy man who originally
came from South Arabia. It is a rather modest square construction, located in the
southeastern ?ank of the Kopet Dag mountain range, on top of the so-called “God
Mountain” (tangry-dag). The second shrine is dedicated to ‘AlimBaba (“Sagacious Father”)
and the third shrine is in honour of Chupan (“Shepherd”) ‘Ata. Not far from the alleged tomb
of Kha? led Nabi, a former burial mound is located as well (Plate 2). This burial mound is
strewn with mostly phallic-shaped gravestones, which appear to be of great (i.e.
pre-Islamic) antiquity. The popularity of Kha? led Nabi among the Turkmens has also
attracted the attention and curiosity of other non-Turkmens, such as Iranians (domestic and
from abroad) and foreign tourists. Accordingly, despite its relative remote setting, every
year ?90,000 travelers do visit this shrine.
Results and discussions
Generally, the visitors of Kha? led Nabi can be divided in three groups of local Turkmens,
domestic non-Turkmen Iranians and foreign visitors. The results of the questionnaires which
have been distributed in Kha? led Nabi shrine indicate that the visitors are mainly male (85
per cent) than female (15 per cent), mostly Sunni Turkmen (66 per cent) than Shia
Non-Turkmen (34 per cent), relatively young (65 per cent of the visitors are –?40 years of
age) and mostly married (52 per cent). The visitors’ age curve shows that 8 per cent of the
Figure 1 Diagram of the interrelations between tourism and religion
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Plate 1 The shrine of Chupan Ata and Kopet Dagh mountains (“thousands hill”), April
5, 2014
Plate 2 Historical graveyards near Kha? led Nabi, August 20, 2011
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visitors are aged ?20 years; 31 per cent of the visitors are between 21 and 30 years; 26 per
cent of the visitors are between 31 and 40 years; 23 per cent of all visitors range between
the ages 41 and 50; 10 per cent are aged between 51 and 60 years. Only 2 per cent of the
visitors are ?61 years of age (Figure 2).
The statistics indicate that the major proportion of the visitors (52 per cent) who have been
questioned, have visited the shrine for the ?rst time. Of the 48 per cent of the rest who
visited the shrine before, majority of them (32 per cent) declared that they visited the shrine
during the past 30 years. This fact designates the chronological pilgrimage process of the
shrine which for the most part is developed and is popular among the Turkmens after the
Islamic Revolution of 1979. The visitors travel with varieties of motivations to the Kha? led
Nabi shrine. Accordingly, the main purpose of 32 per cent of (all) the visitors to the Kha? led
Nabi shrine is pilgrimage, 26 per cent have recreational (non-religious) motivations and 42
per cent of the rest are interested due to both religious and recreational reasons (Figure 3).
But the motivations for the visits do not have a similar pattern among Turkmens and
non-Turkmens. As can be seen in Figure 4, 42 per cent of Turkmens visited Kha? led Nabi
just for “sacred” (pilgrimage) and the majority of them(52 per cent) combined “sacred” with
“secular” motivations. Only 6 per cent of the Turkmens visited the site as “secular”
(non-religious) tourists.
In contrast, a minority of 12 per cent of non-Turkmens visited the shrine merely for “sacred”
reasons, 21 per cent of them tended to combine “sacred” with “secular” motivations. But
overall, a clear majority of them (67 per cent) visited Kha? led Nabi for merely “secular”
(non-religious) reasons, see Figure 5.
Figure 2 Male and female visitors at Kha? led Nabi shrine
Figure 3 Form of activities among all the visitors
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Like many other pilgrimage sites, the shrine of Kha? led Nabi because of its geographical
characteristics (as described in detail before) has a multipurpose function as well. The
outcomes of the questionnaire indicate that 94 per cent of Turkmen visitors believe in the
religiosity of the site and stated that “it is the burial place of one the God’s messenger
‘Piambar-i khoda’”. But there is a discrepancy among non-Turkmems. Although 41 per cent
of the non-Turkmen visitors believe that Kha? led Nabi is a pilgrimage site, their primary
motive for visit was not a religious pilgrimage. The reason for this contradiction (as some of
them have inscribed) is that they perceived Kha? led Nabi as religious shrine just for local
Turkmen and not as their own selves (Figure 6).
In addition to its religious appeal, the sanctuary of Kha? led Nabi offers several other forms
of entertainment that are a draw for visitors with non-religious motivations. It is essential to
consider that these motivations are changing. Often the visitors may seek multiple
experiences even on short holidays and switch their motivations unconsciously as they visit
a destination. They might also not even be aware about the different academic
classi?cations for tourism and pilgrimage. Accordingly, after analyzing the motivations and
behavior of the visitors carefully, they have been classi?ed to the following ?ve categories/
forms of “tourism” and “pilgrimage” are recognized. To capture the fuzziness of the
motivations, these zones are shown with dotted lines (Figure 7).
Figure 4 The primary purposes of visits among Turkmen travelers
Figure 5 The primary purposes of visits among non-Turkmen travelers
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1. Religious pilgrimage: these pilgrims are solely preoccupied with the holiness of Kha? led
Nabi. They visit the shrine out of religious belief, and their main activity is praying. They
come to Kha? led Nabi speci?cally to ask for help and assistance in problems related to
personal ?nance, health and fertility or ?nding a suitable partner (for themselves or for
their children). The believers who have such a vow, tie colored rags on the branches
of a tree next to the shrines to have their wishes granted. Those who have their wish
granted would then donate a small carpet to the shrine or sacri?ce a lamb or calf,
depending on the nature of the wish.
2. Cultural pilgrimage: despite the fact that 41 per cent of the non-Turkmen visitors do
believe in the holiness of the site (Figures 6), unlike the Turkmen religious pilgrims,
these non-Turkmen visitors do not come to the site to perform a religious ritual (e.g.
making a vow). Nonetheless, they are more interested in the spiritual atmosphere of the
sanctuary. These visitors also show interest in the natural and historical attractions of
the site. They can therefore be classi?ed as “cultural pilgrims”.
Figure 6 Perceptions of the Turkmen and non-Turkmen about Kha? led Nabi shrine
Figure 7 The sacred–secular axis of different forms of activities at Kha? led Nabi shrine
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3. Nostalgic pilgrimage: the motives of this category of visitors, who are closer to the
sacred end of the continuum, are mostly for religio-cultural reasons. In other words, this
group of visitors, which includes young and middle-aged Turkmens who belong to
middle- or high-?nancial situations, instead of the pure religious motivation are mostly
interested in the historical and cultural aspects of the site. Among their motivations for
visit, we encounter some concepts like a visit to con?rm their roots, satisfying nostalgic
feeling about the good past days, quest of identity, educational reasons, family
togetherness or similar. These Turkmen visitors, who usually have an academic
educational background, visit Kha? led Nabi in search of their cultural identity and
strengthen the bonds with their kinsmen. Simultaneously, they might be interested in
nature as well. Because of the limitation of Turkmen in modern Iranian society, Kha? led
Nabi offers them a chance for cultural unity through pilgrimage or simply gathering
together (without being under the constant scrutiny of the local authorities or other
Iranian citizens.) In fact, they have transferred and copied their own ancestral central
Asian values and customs to the site and have come to accept Kha? led Nabi as their
own original sacred place. According to pilgrimage classi?cation, we shall classify
them as nostalgic pilgrims.
4. Adventure tourism: adventure tourists are those who seek some excitement in their
lives, including a sense of danger (for some). This segment ranges from soft
adventures, such as bird-watching activities, to hard adventure, such as overnight
wilderness hikes, and other nature-based sports. This category consists of a small
minority of visitors – Turkmens and non-Turkmens. These “adventure tourists” are
certainly not interested in the religiosity of Kha? led Nabi, but they are rather motivated
to visit the surrounding nature (both fauna and ?ora).
5. Cultural (secular) tourism: this category includes mostly middle-aged non-Turkmen
Iranians who come from big cities. As expected, they generally do not believe very
much in the perceived sacredness of Kha? led Nabi and have recreational motivations.
These visitors, who have heard about the antiquity of the site, are at the site just to
satisfy their curiosity in exoticism. They seek out interactions with the exotic and
unfamiliar culture and traditions of the Turkmens. They usually have a fairly super?cial
knowledge of Turkmen’s culture and customs, and they come to the place mainly from
hearsay (including Internet and touristic handbooks like Lonely Planet). These “cultural
tourists” are often part of an organized tour and come to the site speci?cally to watch
and meet other people (Turkmens in this case) whose lifestyle differs greatly from their
own. Especially during festive occasions, Kha? led Nabi attracts many curious
non-Turkmen visitors. Sometimes they do have certain cultural, educational and/or
ecological concerns.
Conclusion and implications
Zeya? rat, or non-obligatory tradition of pilgrimage to the so-called “holy shrines” rather than
Mecca, is very popular in the Islamic countries, especially among regions with
Turco-Iranian cultures. In Iran, visiting (pilgrimage) the holy places has a long history and
goes back to pre-Islamic antiques times. In modern times, especially after the Islamic
Revolution 1979, pilgrimage has been promoted by the government. Accordingly, during
this period, with support of several public organizations, ?7,000 shrines (or as it known as
Imamzadeh in Iran) have been renovated or rebuilt (BBC Persian, 2013) Among ?100
shrines which are located in Golestan Provice, north east of Iran, the shrine of Kha? led Nabi
is the most well-known one which, especially during the past 35 years, developed from an
unknown, remote place to the most important gathering center of Turkmen. Due to its
enigmatic history, each year more than 90,000 people visit the shrine
The results of the research indicate that perhaps, contrary to the prevailing view, the visitors
of the Kha? led Nabi shrine do not consist of exclusively religiously motivated “pilgrims”, but
of various types of visitors. Those with an exclusively religious motivation are actually in the
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minority (32 per cent), whereas the overwhelming majority of the visitors have either secular
(recreational) motivations (26 per cent) or semi-religious incentives (42 per cent). The
non-religious reasons are no doubt related to the geographical backdrop of the shrine with
its beautiful natural scenery (especially in spring), an ancient burial ground and the ethnic
allure of the Turkmens. Generally, the visitors of Kha? led Nabi are mostly Turkmen (65 per
cent), while a sizable minority of the visitors is other non-Turkmen Iranians. Of the Turkmen
visitors, almost half (42 per cent) are mainly there for the religious pilgrimage, while a slim
majority prefers to combine the pilgrimage with a form of tourism (52 per cent). Only to a
very small minority among the Turkmen visitors (4 per cent), a visit to Kha? led Nabi is purely
for secular reasons. Kha? led Nabi is a convenient place for meetings, picnics and/or for
spending a nice day with friends and family. In contrast, most non-Turkmen travelers (58
per cent) which include curious Iranian (both domestic and from abroad) and a few foreign
tourists visit the place for secular reasons. Only 12 per cent of these travelers visit the shrine
for religious reasons. Overall, according to this research, the shrine of Khaled Nabi takes
different tourism functions for its visitors. For its Turkmen visitors it is a place for religious
and nostalgic pilgrimage, but for its non-Turkmen visitors it is a place for exotics, cultural
and creational tourism.
From this study it has become clear that it is often impossible to differentiate the visitors
according to discrete motivations and forms of tourism. On the contrary, they can show
overlap (to a lesser or greater degree). Some categories of travelers may have some
spontaneous motives to be at Kha? led Nabi. For instance, a Turkmen female pilgrim may
initially come just to perform her prayers or religious rituals, but then decides to linger much
longer because she becomes overwhelmed by the stunning scenery and wishes to
immerse herself in the landscape. She thus becomes a spontaneous “adventure tourist”. Or
in another case, a non-Turkmen visitor, who has originally come to see the adjacent ancient
graveyard, can at this stage been considered a “historical” tourist. But he meets the local
Turkmens and become interested in their customs and cultural traditions. Should he be
classi?ed primarily as a “historical tourist” or rather an “ethnic tourist”? Such cases compel
us to ?ne tune our assessment of the motivations of the visitors, perhaps by distinguishing
between primary or intentional motivation and secondary or accidental motivation, which
need to be addressed in another study. But, what is clear is that these switches of
motivations do occur very and sometimes spontaneously or even unconsciously with
overlap in motivations. Hence, in this research, to study the available tourism forms (both
religious and secular), the motivations of the visitors have also been considered. To resolve
the problem of simultaneity and overlaps of the motivations at Kha? led Nabi, the visitors are
classi?ed according to their self-described motivations in the questionnaires. Accordingly,
after analyzing the motivations and behavior of the visitors at Kha? led Nabi and based on the
theoretical conceptions about different forms of pilgrimage (presented in the ?rst chapter),
the visitors have been classi?ed to the ?ve categories/forms of “tourism” and “pilgrimage’
of: “Religious pilgrims”, “cultural pilgrims”, “nostalgic pilgrims”, “adventure tourists” and
“cultural tourists”.
Note
1. The questionnaire focused on the pilgrims’ expression of beliefs, feelings, motivations, behavior,
experience at the site and comprised closed- and open-ended questions. The ?rst part of the
questionnaire elicited the pilgrims’ personal details and characteristics, such as age, sex, origin,
socioeconomic status and religious af?liation. The second part asked about their visit to the site like
their motivations, activities, pattern of visit, behavior, length of stay, etc.
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Further reading
DW (2012), “Only one ?fth of Iranian Imamzadehs are registered (tanha yek panjom imamzadehaie iran
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Jafari, J. (2000), Encyclopedia of Tourism, Routledge, USA.
Maccannel, D. (1999), The Tourist, Schocken (orig. 1976), New York, NY.
WTO (2011), Religious Tourism in Asia and Paci?c, World Tourism Organization.
Corresponding author
Mehdi Ebadi can be contacted at: [email protected]
To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected]
Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints
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