Ch 41, Day 34: The Yazidi Temple

 25.6
kms, Sept 19, 2012

The
Traveler is excited about his destination today. Today he is going
to finish his pilgrimage to the largest Yazidi temple in the world.

What
is so special about this? He wonders to himself, as he trudges across
the wide open highway heading east. He has already visited many
temples, churches and mosques on his Journey. Why is this so
different?

It
strikes him that, all through Africa, the Middle East—and on
through Europe, almost every religious structure belongs to one of
two religions: Christianity or Islam. These are the two religions
that set out on a global conquest to dominate the world some 1,700
years ago. And it sort of started right here in Armenia, the first
kingdom to declare Christianity as its “official” religion. Now,
most of the globe has come under the dominance of these two
mega-cultures/faiths, with the exception of Southern and Eastern
Asia.

While
the Traveler has seen some positive sides to these global religious
empires and does appreciate the beauty of the many Christian and
Muslim sites he has visited, he often feels that sense of loss,
realizing how many aspects of culture were erased during these
conquests. In the Middle East and Europe, only a handful of
religions have managed to survive, and those who have, have suffered
terribly over the centuries.

This
is personal for the Traveler as well. He knows that, at one time his
own ancestors had their tribal beliefs and traditions. Then one day,
they either willingly or more likely were forced to give up these
traditions and bow to the conquering faith. He sometimes wonders
what facets of his own ethnic history were forever lost—and what
might have happened if his ancestors had held fast to their roots.

Well,
today he hopes to get a glimpse of what that is like. He is about to
visit the temple of a faith that has stood fast, despite many
persecutions and genocides over the last 800 years, 73 is the
official count of genocides, according to Yazidis themselves.

The
Traveler is embarrassed to admit that he didn't even know that this
religion existed until the horrific genocide committed against the
Yazidis by ISIS fanatics, starting in 2014. The men were
systematically slaughtered and the women distributed to serve as
actual sex slaves—some of them remaining as such to this day. It is
one of the world genocides the Traveler has heard about in his
lifetime.

It
seems, standing firm against the Empire Religion of Islam has come at
a very high price.

In
Iraq, it was Muslim Kurds who did defend the surviving Yazidis from
getting completely wiped out. And Christian America that bombed the
ISIS attackers back... and Christian Germany that is now home to
several hundred thousand Yazidi refugees... and Christian Armenia
that just two years ago welcomed the completion of the first Yazidi
temple on their soil...

So,
the Yazidi have not always gotten badly treated by Muslims and
Christians. But still, it does seem that this is a culture that has
long been at the brink of being wiped out.

The
Traveler reaches the town of Aknalich. A couple curious
children approach him as he fills his water bottle at the community
fountain. They seem more curious than Armenian children, and a bit
fairer skinned... he wonders if they might be Yazidi...

Then
he sees it. His hear beats a bit faster. The “biggest Yazidi
temple in the world” is not very big, but it is beautiful and
inspiring. A serrated marble cone roof, surrounded by other cones...
and at the top... not a cross, not a crescent... but a shining sun.

The
Traveler really hope he will be able to get a closer look. The
temple is surrounded by a garden and an iron fence and... the gate is
locked, with no one around. It looks like, after coming all this
ways, he'll only be able to gaze at the temple from afar.

Or
maybe not. He follows the fence to another gate. This one is ajar.
He gingerly steps inside, hoping he is not defiling some sacred
ground. On Google Maps it did say this place is open to visitors....

The
Traveler gazes up at each of the statues lined up along the garden.
One is an abstract statue of a peacock, an important symbol in the
Yazidi faith. The other is a statue of a historic Yazidi leader.
Another shows a woman with what look like wings, breaking chains on
her wrists. This one is dedicated to the massacre and sexual
enslavement of Yazidis in their homeland, Iraq, just a few years ago.

The
theme here doesn't seem to be anger though. The plaque near it
highlights the heroism of Nadia Murad, a Yazidi girl who escaped her
captors and told her story, going all the way to the United Nations
to highlight the plight of Yazidi women in captivity. Another plaque
expresses gratitude to Armenia for its “friendship” with the
Yazidi people.

The
Traveler continues on to a smaller shrine in a courtyard off to the
side. Will it be OK if I go inside? He doesn't see any signs around
that might suggest otherwise. And so he does. And what he sees
brings big smile to his face.

There
on the altar is a peacock. Not a statue of a peacock—an actual
stuffed peacock! For the Traveler it is an absolutely magical moment.
After hundreds and hundreds of times of entering a place of worship
and seeing the same thing: either a crescent moon, or the image of a
guy impaled on a stick... Seen that so many times, that it rarely
occurs to him how disturbing and inappropriate for children that
image is...

And
here... a peacock! Just a beautiful bird, is the center of worship.
“This is SUCH a refreshing change!” he chuckles to himself. It
immediately makes so much more sense, even though he doesn't
understand it: worship something beautiful, not an image of torture.
He is liking this more and more.

Behind
the altar is a mural of a temple that looks similar to the one here,
but in a mountainous setting. This is the temple of Lalish, a place
of pilgrimage for Yazidis in Kurdish Iraq. While this temple was not
destroyed by ISIS during the 2014 genocide, the Traveler imagines
that Iraqi Yazidis feel that there existence in Iraq is very tenuous.
Perhaps this inspired them to build this temple here in Armenia
where they can be safe.

… Except
Armenia was just invaded a few months ago and many feel that another
invasion is imminent. Turkey, Armenia's enemy is just a few miles
away, across an open plain. Oh, and did I mention that a nuclear
power plant considered to be the most dangerous in the world is a few
miles away in the other direction?

Yeah,
“safe” is a very relative concept in this part of the world.
Clearly folks feel safe here, as they leave their holy temple
unguarded for passing tourist to just be able to wander into...

The
History of the Yazidi Faith

The
Traveler is so much more curious about the Yazidi faith and culture.
What do they actually believe? Why have they been hated so much?
And what's up with the peacock?

Turns
out, the Yazidi faith as we know today is not an ancient belief that
pre-dates Islam and Christianity. It emerged in the 12^th
century, when Sheikh Adi, after studying in Baghdad, settled in the
Lalish valley of present day Iraq and began teaching the locals. They
practiced an old Iranic faith which was similar to Zoroastrianism.
The result was a culture that uses a lot of Islamic symbolism, but
preserves pre-Islamic mythology, symbology, and rituals. It's
officially monotheistic, but the belief is that God created the world
and then entrusted it to seven angels, the heft sirr. The most
prominent one is Taus Melek, the peacock angel, who is clearly the
center of worship at this temple, and whose image is ubiquitous in
Yazidi culture. So Yazidis are about as monotheistic as Virgin Mary
worshiping Catholics and St Micheal worshiping Eastern Orthodox
folks...

Over
time, many Yazidis converted to Islam, which was obviously the
dominant religion at that time. These “apostates” (according to
Yazidis) are the ancestors of many of the Kurds today. The Traveler
is a bit shocked to learn that it was these Kurds who would attack
and slaughter the Yazidis far more viciously than the Turks or the
Arabs. Killing their own distant cousins who decided to stick to
their roots and keep worshiping the Peacock Angel.

Just
like when he read about the Kurdish massacres of Armenians and
Assyrians in southeast Turkey, this is a sobering reminder that the
role of “villain” and “victim” is usually not as cut and dry
as we would like to think. Yes, Kurds have suffered terrible
persecutions over the last 100 years in Turkey and Iraq... but in the
past they have also been the persecutors. The 19^th
century was particularly brutal with wave after wave of massacre
and/or forced conversion, pushing the Yazidi culture to the brink of
extinction.

The
Yazidi story does have many parallels with the history of Judaism in
Europe, where Jews per persecuted for centuries. But the Traveler
sees a critical difference: in most of their host countries, Jews
figured out ways to “work their way up the ladder” becoming
important business people, bankers and even royal advisors—even in
societies where they were hated. They seemed to have a collective
strategy to enmesh themselves in society, even as they maintained
their distinctiveness. Thus, there would be a heavy price tag
if/when they were massacred or driven out.

The
Yazidis, on the other hand, it seems were more isolated, living more
as shepherds in rural regions. This made it much easy for an
invading army to just come and surround them and wipe them out. This
the fact that they have survived to this day even more extraordinary.

Right
now there are estimated to be 1 to 1.5 million Yazidis with 500 to
700,000 of them still in Kurdish Iraq and another 200,000 in Germany.
About 35,000 of them live here in Armenia where their biggest temple
is.

The
Traveler goes over to the temple itself, a crisp, gleaming structure
that doesn't look like it's been visited a whole lot yet. He reaches
the door. Sure enough, it's open and he take off his shoes and goes
inside.

Inside
the floor is marble and dim lights light up the ceiling. A whooshing
sound is played from speakers somewhere. In front is another altar
with multi-colored clothes and a small statue of Taus Melek. It has
a bit more of the feel of a mausoleum then a place where masses
gather to worship.

The
Traveler stands there, soaking in the moment. He tries to imagine
what it must feel like for a Yazidi to enter this place. He wonders,
does a Yazidi feel an awe and sense of connection to his roots here?
Or would it give him more a sense of sadness, knowing this is merely
an imitation of the “real” temple in Lalish, where perhaps he
will never be able to go? Is it possible to just create a new
pilgrimage site in the middle of Armenia or will that take a long
time for it to “feel” like a holy site.

The
Traveler thinks of the Hassan II mosque in Morocco, arguably one of
the grandest mosques in the world. Yet he doesn't know of any
Muslims who have made a special pilgrimage there. For a religious
building to be a place of pilgrimage, it needs to have some history
to it.

But,
for the Traveler, knowing that this is the closest he is going to get
to connecting with the Yazidi culture, this is a very special moment.
Finally he heads out pulls out his guitar in the garden, and
dedicates a couple of songs to this beautiful culture of the peacock
worshipers...

He
would really like to have a conversation with a Yazidi, but it
doesn't look like this is going to happen. There is one young fellow,
perhaps a gardener milling about, but he doesn't seem interested in
chatting. Finally it's time to continue on.

Thoughts
on Preserving of a Culture

As
the Traveler continues on down the road, sometimes glancing back at
the gleaming temple getting smaller in the distance, he tries to
grapple with the question: how important is it to preserve a culture?

One
part of him, of course, wants to shout “extremely important!” and
celebrate the fact that the Yazidis have manage to survive the last
800 years despite 73 genocides. It seems so heroic that folks would
make such a sacrifice so that at least a handful of cultures have
managed to survive the religious imperialism of the last 1,700 years.

But
then, the Traveler imagines what it would be like if he were a
Yazidi and... it starts to feel a lot different. The idea of feeling
“locked in” to a certain culture. A culture where you feel you
carry the weight of all the suffering of your ancestors and are
expected to suffer and even be a martyr for your faith... and
considering any other options would make your community very, very
angry with you. And don't even think of falling love with a
non-Yazidi girl...

How
would I feel about that? The Traveler knows that he is someone who
loves to push the boundaries. And in present day Yazidism, the
boundaries do not like getting pushed.

And
he also has to ask the question, on a personal level... assuming
there is no afterlife... wouldn't it be better to just convert to
another religion and be able to live a full, prosperous life... or
stick to your ancestral religion and die?

On
the individual level, the answer seems obvious. On a collective
level, it gets a lot more complicated.

Still,
he can't help but feel gratitude for the Yazidis for “taking one
for the team”... the team of people who wish they still had a
connection to the traditions of their ancestors. And the Traveler
feels he is one of that team.

The
Cemetery

He
reaches a cemetery, with big family plots and gleaming granite
headstones. Looks like a cemetery of well to do Armenians. But no...
look closer and you see peacocks and suns rather than crosses on
these stately gravestones. Here, Yazidis seem to feel comfortable
making it obvious that their loved ones died as Yazidis, and they
don't seem afraid that someday this cemetery might be desecrated like
the Azeri cemeteries have. This does give the Traveler a bit of
cheer. For now, Yazidis are able to live and die here in peace. And
most of the dates on the tombs show that these Yazidis lived ot a
ripe old age.

He
glances over at the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, built in Soviet
times and not up to date in modern safety standards... he looks to
the left where Turkey is visible not far away...

No,
this is not the safest place in the world. He wonders, would the
Yazidis have been better off to build their temple in Germany, where
they now number 200,000?

In
Germany, he imagines, the Yazidi culture will face another “danger”:
prosperity. As young Yazidis grow up and find that they can prosper
and progress within the German system, and they no longer need to
rely on their community for survival, they might start losing
connections with their roots. Yazidis have managed to adapt and
survive as a “persecuted minority”, but are they ready to adapt
and remain relevant in a cosmopolitan, progressive society where it's
written in law that young people are allowed to believe whatever they
want to believe and marry whoever they want to marry?

Time
will tell. Maybe Armenia, where Yazidis will remain “protected but
separate”, is their best bet for an enduring future...

The
Industrial Town of Metsamor

The
Traveler continues on to the town of Metsamor. Metsamor
doesn't feel like a Yazidi or an Armenian town—it feels very
Soviet, with rows of apartment blocks, separated by shabby, overgrown
little parks. It seems, with it's proximity to the nuclear power
plant, this was a busy industrial town back in Soviet days.

Walking
through an overgrown park the Traveler figures it's going to feel
like a post-apocalyptic abandoned city, but no... he gets to where
buildings are closer together and sees quite a few people... shops...
old folks relaxing and children playing. Most of the apartments
still look like their inhabited.

The
Traveler figures that, with its proximity to Yerevan, Metsamor is
probably a lower budget option for folks willing to commute to the
city, and he enjoys a pleasant stroll up and down its alleys that
have a “big city” feel. It also has a beautiful church up on a
ridge, which the Traveler heads up to. No more peacocks to be
worshiped here... we're back to the images of torture here...

(sigh)

Reaching
Armavir

Dusk
is approaching as the Traveler continues on up the highway east.
He's not far from the fairly large city of Armavir where he
hopes to stay the night. On the way he notices that a lot of trucks
going this way have Georgian license plates. He figures: these must
be trucks that connect Armenia to the rest of Europe to the west.
Probably Armenian license plates aren't welcome in Turkey, and
Turkish license plates aren't allowed in Armenia, so they have
Georgian license plate. Georgia, it seems, is trying to get along
with everybody.

The
Traveler gets off the main highway to follow what he thinks is a back
road. It turns out, it takes him through an area of nothing but
industrial ruins and areas full of trash. Kind of makes him feel
uncomfortable. While he doesn't really feel he's in danger of being
robbed, he knows, anyone passing through is going to find it very odd
to see a “tourist” wandering through the ruins.

The
Traveler has come to expect seeing industrial ruins here in Armenia.
He knows that these structures were built in the days when Armenia
was part of a great, well connected industrialized empire. Now
Armenia is a weak, semi-isolated country—but still does have some
industry and a functioning economy, so he knows scenes like this
don't define Armenia.

But
it is still a sobering reminder of how different things were during
communist times...

Finally
he reaches a residential area and heaves a sigh of relief. Still a
working class feel to this place, but it does have a pleasant
shopping area and a lake park with some historical looking stone
carvings—and even a mini-amusement parks with a couple of rides.

The
hotel he saw online seems to be closed, but after asking around for a
bit, he finally is directed to a roadside motel—which is quite
pricier than the hostels he was staying at in Yereven. Still, this
will allow him to get an early start on what looks to be a very long
hike tomorrow.