Until Sept. 13
Yazidis gather at Lalish Temple for the annual Jamayi Feast
SHEKHAN — Yazidi communities began their annual Jamayi Feast on Sunday, a week-long celebration considered the holiest event in the Yazidi faith. Running until September 13, the festival draws Yazidis from around the world to Lalish Temple, the most sacred site in their religion.
Known as the Gathering and Feast of Seven Days, the Jamayi Feast includes a series of religious and cultural rituals. The event opens with a religious dance ceremony, followed by a solemn gathering at the shrines of Lalish Temple. These rituals are repeated over the first four days of the festival.
On the fifth day, a key ceremony takes place in which seven girls and seven boys, dressed in fine garments, represent the Seven Great Angels, a core element of Yazidi spiritual belief. According to tradition, the angels gather at the heavenly Lalish during the festival to bless the congregation. The sixth day features “The Sacrifice of the Bull,” an important religious offering.
The event also sees young Yazidis affirm their faith through participation in traditional rituals, including walking barefoot through the religious grounds.
Last year, the Yazidi Supreme Spiritual Council implemented new regulations for the feast, prohibiting the use of music, instruments, hookah, and weapons to maintain the sanctity of the event.
Lalish Temple is the central location for major religious ceremonies and pilgrimages, including the tomb of Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir, who reformed the Yazidi faith in the 12th century.
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