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Paper short abstract:

The presentation will focus on the cases of the shrines illustrating how the second war in Karabakh influenced the nature of pilgrimages and rites shaping their meaning and form. It is based on ethnography collected during research in 2022 in Georgia among Armenian and Azerbaijani communities.

Paper long abstract:

The presentation will consider how symbolic and moral manifestations of sacred places are formed by political and social circumstances. And in which way sacred places contribute to transforming and transferring ideas, knowledge, and social and political moods, reflecting a specific time and place to which they belong.

The presentation will focus on the cases of the shrines illustrating how the second war in Karabakh influenced the nature of pilgrimages and rites shaping their meaning and form. It is based on ethnography collected during research in 2022 in Georgia among Armenians and Azerbaijanis.

I use two different case study examples to present the topic in question. The first case describes a Shiite sacred place, the tomb of a man from a Sayeed family considered to be a descendant of Imam Husain. In 2022 during Ashura, the martyrdom of the Imam was compared to the end of soldiers killed in Karabakh. Comparing the Karabakh martyrs with imam Husain and his people is present in a discourse about the Karabakh war in Azerbaijani circles. It emphasizes the soldiers’ unique role in liberating “occupied land.” The second case study presents a house shrine established by an Armenian social activist from Georgia. During the 2020 conflict, he established an NGO to organize humanitarian aid; after the end of the 2020 conflict, he went to Armenia to help the war victims. His social activity and involvement earned him the respect of the people. It also changed his sacred place, which became popular among locals.