The Hotel in Duhok arranged for a taxi driver to take me to Lalish, the holiest temple of the Yazidis and the location of the tomb of the Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir, a central figure of the Yazid faith. When IS rolled over Iraq in 2014, ISIS began hunting the Yazidi population of Sinjar. 400.000 Yazidi fled, many to the mountains, since ISIS did not consider them as true Muslim. Thousands of them died from hunger and thirst, thousands of women were enslaved, sold. There are still refugee camps around Dohouk full of Yazidi who have nowhere to go.
Lalish – the holy place for Yazidi
Luckily the nightmare of IS is over, pockets of them are still hiding on the mountains, but more troubling for northern Iraqi now is Turkey. When I was there, Erdogan was bombing a place in the mountain where PKK fighters were suspected to hide. I did not notice any of this, only read in the newspaper about
Yazidi woman in Lalish
When we got close to Lalish, I immediately noticed that the place was super busy. Bingo, we arrived at the time the Yazidi were celebrating New Year. Large families were visiting all dressed to the nine. The holy site of Lalish can only be entered bare foot, long before the entrance, shoes have to be taken off. The huge compound is built into a hill, it looks a bit like a monastery.
Lalish covers a large area
There are many buildings to be visited and the whole site had a calm but nevertheless cheerful ambience. I was constantly asked to have photos taken with family or groups of young men.
Lalish – photos with me where in high demand
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