Touring Iran: Damavand

Reaching for the sky

The picture shows Damavand mountain.  Situated in the north east of Tehran, it is the highest mountain in the Alborz range, the tallest point in the Middle East and also the highest volcano in the whole Asian continent.   Despite its might and huge size, the mountain has its own place in the heart of all Iranians.  Here is the place where all the other mountains in the Alborz range pour all their spirit in a single place and do their best to rise and touch the sky.

Days have dawned both physically and symbolically on Damavand for thousands of years

And just before dawn, Damavand has its own night time stories to tell.  One of them is about Zahak the snake-shouldered.  One day I heard from my late father that Satan, in the form of a beautiful woman, put a kiss on each shoulder of the savage king where two horrible snakes emerged later. Satan then told the king that in order for him to survive he had to feed the snakes on the brains of two young men each day otherwise the snakes would eat his own brain at the time of their hunger.

Soon the kitchens of the killer king were filled with blood and the brains of so many young people which were boiling in his pots.  In the end, Fereidoon, assisted by Kave-ye Ahangar (=Kaveh the blacksmith), captured the tyrant king, trapped him inside a cave in Damavand and let snakes, which by then had grown into huge dragons, do their job. 

This is how Damavand has come to become a symbol of pride and resistance in the Persian mythology.  This is the way that Damavand keeps the memory of my father alive.

Showing the sky to the birds and reminding them to fly

Mountains are the harbingers of the day.  They are the first to receive the arriving rays of the sunlight . . . the first to salute the sun.

Have you ever thought why the sun always kisses mountains first?  Perhaps because even in total darkness, they continue to reach for the sky and look for the light which they know will arrive.

Damavand also dreams although its heart is made of stone

And these dreams swirl playfully around.

Holding the snows in its arms before the sun

This is the way the dreams come through.  Nights end and winters melt.  The picture shows Damavand in winter.  Snows always melt and flow to our blooming gardens to reach the petals in each flower.