The 17th commemoration ceremony for Ferdowsi in Kashan was initiated by Paliz Group.
In this ceremony, which started on May 20 at 5:00 PM in Kashan Cultural Center, the program’s host, Narges Hamzeh-ie started the program by reciting a few verses of Shahnameh and then Pariya sater, a small girl from Kashan, recited parts of the Shahnameh. The Paliz group then gave a welcome speech for the participants.
Pictures of Ferdowsi’s commemoration in previous years were shown for the first time, this year. The first speech was made by Babak Salamati, a Shahnameh research, about kingship and statesmanship in the Shahnameh. His speech was followed by narration of the story of finding Rakhsh by Rostam, by a young /shahnameh narrator, Chista Salamati.
The second speaker in this program, Dr Zagros Zand, historian and Iranologist, gave a speech about the secret of Shahnameh’s survival through times, and emphasized that no specific ethnic group or religion is mentioned in the Shahnameh more than the others, and that Shahnameh is written for all people. The second narrators of the program were Farahmand Farzanegan and Farhadokht Farzanegan, who narrated the story of “Aqvan, the demon” for the audience.
Also, Dr Reza Shajari, a professor in literature, addressed the topic of praising God in the Shahnameh. In the last program Ahmad Reza Jaghari Fard, played the tar, and offered its pleasant sound to Ferdowsi and the participants. In the end a short speech of appreciation was presented to the professors, speakers and the cultural activists involved, and the program ended at 8 pm.
