Rasta-Mandaean holy garments The Rasta consists of the following items: • Kesoya or Sidra-a long, wide shirt, approx. 6 metres of fabric in all for the living person, and 8 metres for the dead • Al Dasha or Dasha-a white piece of the same material, sewn from the outside, from the top, right side of the shirt opening, just like a pocket • Sharwal-a long, loose, wide type of trousers, which go from the hips to near the feet. • Al Tikka often called Tikka, or Ticha- is a kind of a pull string, to tighten the Sharwal (trousers) • Barzinqa- Turban of white muslin wrapped around the head, of about one metre wide, one end (which is called Righza) to be left hanging down over the left shoulder. This will be used to cover the lower part of the face (the chin, the mouth and the nose) • Himyana-a woven kind of belt from sixty woollen threads; wearing the Sidra and the Sharwal, the middle of the Himyana is held at the front, passed and twisted at the back, and brought back and tied at the front. This tie or knot is of special religious significance and has to be done according to religious regulations, and also with a special prayer. In addition to the above, laymen use the following garments: • Nasifa or Gabua-a long narrow strip of muslin, used as a head covering during consecrating prayers(Mandaic: Rahmi). It could also be called Kinzalsa. • Tagha-a kind of a tubular white cotton or silk crown. • Shum Yawar-a gold ring, worn on the little finger of the right hand. (On it there is inscribed, Shum Yaw ar Ziwa ). Similarly, the Elchasaite, a Christian baptismal sect, ‘wore white and perform baptisms [and] dwelled in East Palestine and Northern Mesopotamia…’ Dr.Drower, The Mandaeans of Iraq & Iran, Rasta is a Mandaic holy garment, p.31 ibid, p.31 Mohamed Omar Hamada, Tareekh Alsabea Almanadaeyeen, p.83 Mohamed Omar Hamada, Tareekh Alsabea Almanadaeyeen, p.83 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandaeanists E.S.Drower, Mandaeans of Iraq & Iran, Leiden, 1962 Edit.the free encyclopedia, ‘Mandaeanism’, modified 27 April 2005, viewed 18/3/2004 For further Studies on garments, read: “Mandaeans Mysteries Revealed”, Dr. George Harbi Khadar
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 20:55:48 +0000
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