The ceremony of “Koozeh Shekani” (breaking the pot) in South Khorasan is one of the nearly forgotten customs that takes place on the last Wednesday of the year, known as “Charshanbe Souri” in this province. Alongside customs such as jumping over fire (known as “Tasho”) and celebrating “Dehqan” festivities in this region, Koozeh Shekani has been prevalent. It’s an ancient formal tradition in this part of Iran.
The concept of the Koozeh Shekani ceremony symbolically resembles the celebration of Nowruz (the Iranian New Year) as it signifies the replacement of the old with the new, the transition from the past to the present, from bad times to good times. In the past, it was common in many cities of South Khorasan province to break old pots and pitchers on the last Wednesday of the year. These were pots that no longer held cold water or had algae growing inside, turning them green. Some families would place a small amount of charcoal inside these pots as a symbol of bad luck, coins for increased wealth, and salt for sharp sight. Before breaking the pot, they would spin it around all family members. Then the pot would be handed to the woman of the house, who would go to the rooftop or top of the house and throw the pot to the ground, breaking it. Some also poured grains like barley, wheat, or beans into the pot so that after breaking it, it would serve as food for birds.
The ceremony went like this: in the afternoon of Wednesday, people would bring some firewood to the rooftop and pour water into the pot. Then they would pour some of the pot’s water into the four corners of the rooftop and subsequently throw the pot from the top of the house to the ground and break it. Simultaneously with breaking the pot, they would recite these verses:
“May my pain and suffering be poured into the pot,
Ah, my pain and suffering thrown into the narrow alley.”
Please note that the last couplet is a play on words, as “koozeh” means pot and “koocheh” means narrow alley.
Or another couplet:
“Go sorrow, come joy; go hardship, come sustenance.”
This act stems from the belief of the people of South Khorasan that by breaking the pot and casting away the poured-in sorrow and misfortune, happiness and blessings would come to them. Another reason for this act was the daily use of unglazed pots for drinking water and storing food. They believed that using unglazed pots for more than a year would create unhygienic conditions and could lead to illness due to impurities absorbed by the pot walls.
Some believe that Koozeh Shekani, breaking the pot, was one of the reasons for the flourishing of pottery art in this region. Since people extensively used pottery in their daily lives, breaking the old pots necessitated the purchase of new containers for storing water and food. At the end of the Koozeh Shekani ceremony, the people of South Khorasan would fill their new and clean pots with water from the Qanat spring and joyously return home to set up the “Haft-Seen” table. They say the tradition of Koozeh Shekani dates back to the Qajar era, and during that period, a romantic meaning was also added to this ceremony. Accordingly, families with a newlywed daughter would tie a handkerchief to the handle of the pot and give it to the daughter to throw from the rooftop into the alley. If a young man was in love with the girl of that house, he would pick up the handkerchief from the end of the alley and use it to propose to her. But the main purpose of this ceremony was to instill a habit of not using contaminated pots among the people. However, over time, with this sense of love, the tradition of Koozeh Shekani became more attractive to the people of that time. After a few days, the suitor would come with a handkerchief, a box of sweets, and a new cooking pot along with his family to propose to the girl whose pot was broken.
The Koozeh Shekani ceremony is a joyful and spirited ritual. This ceremony was registered as No. 817 in the list of intangible cultural heritage of Iran on February 23, 2013. This ceremony is held annually on the last Wednesday of the year locally in the city of Qaenat and symbolically in the Akbariyeh Botanical Garden in Birjand. Since Esfand (the last month of the Iranian calendar) holds a special place for the people of Birjand, in this month, not only do they perform Koozeh Shokani, but they also observe other customs such as burning charms, cooking Samanu, Shah Moulavi ceremony, Hanabandan, baking bread, baking sweets, buying debts, and reciting Fatiha alongside home cleaning and preparing traditional snacks on the night of Eid.
