“Barfandil” or “barfchal” is a skill for storing water in the scarce land of Iran, which was popular in mountainous areas and mostly among nomads; A skill that has been significantly affected by the atmospheric and climatic changes of the planet and even though it has not been a year since it was registered in the list of intangible heritage, its extinction is suspected.
According to Isna, “Barfandil” is a knowledge and skill for storing water in winter, which was most common among nomads and herders. In North Khorasan Province, many “Kormanj” nomads live as in the past, and they used this knowledge to accumulate water until the last five decades, but of course, there are still few cases of barfandils in this province.
Because similar examples of barf-andil have been seen in other provinces, this knowledge was registered as an intangible heritage at the suggestion of North Khorasan province in Bahman 1400 under number 2597.
Barfandil and worry about the fate of this intangible heritage
Snow has a long shelf life at 2400 meters above sea level. Therefore, the nomads in the mountainous areas cover the pits in the foothills that are not exposed to the sun in the spring and summer. After the last snowfall of the year these pits, called Barfandil (meaning snow storage) are covered with a type of plant called locoweed. As the sun shines and the temperature increases from the middle of spring, the snow collected in the snowbanks gradually melts, and a thin stream of water flows from its lower part. The herders make holes in the water path, which the nomads of Kermanj call “dalo”, water resulting from melting of snow gathers in them, which are used for drinking water for the livestock and also for the family.
Barfandil is a huge snow storage in a trough facing north, which is covered with Gavan (locoweed) or a thick layer (about 20 cm) of soil. The length of these pits (or trough) is more than 10 m and sometimes upto 20 m., and their width is between 6 and 10 meters.
“Mount Ali Kal” in the village by the name of Hezar Masjed, Shavast area in the middle of Daregaz mountain, “Golul” snowfields in the north of Shirvan and some towns of Qouchan are some of the areas in North Khorasan where barfandil or barfchal can still be seen. . Central Alborz is also one of the other regions where there are snow-covered mountains.
Ali Hossein Panah, the editor of the “Barf Andile” registration file and a sociologist, who presented this explanation to ISNA about this intangible heritage, said about the current situation of the Barfandils of North Khorasan province: “Unfortunately, climate and weather changes have had terrible impact on them”.
He added: “Barfandil” can be found in snow bearing heights and peaks, because there is considerable amount of snow in the mountains, and the weather conditions prevailing there, especially the cold, cause the snow to remain in the holes for a long time. Until the last few decades, the North Khorasan Mountains’ snow was seen at more than 2,400 meters above sea level. However, in the previous two decades, they can only be seen at more than 2,600 meters and have much less snow accumulation than in the past.”
This researcher also stated that the method for preserving Barfandil has remained the same, from the past upto date. Some organizations believe that Gavan (locoweed) should not be used to cover snow holes, because plucking Gavan can cause vegetation of the area to disappear. But, at the same time, it should be born in mind that the same Gavan can be used 7-8 years to cover the snow pits.
