The grandeur of Lucknow’s architecture is in its imambaras, the elegant halls and palaces built in memory of Imam Hussain. Numerous tazias (replicas of Imam Hussain’s tomb in Karbala), and Zuljenahs (horses that represent Imam Hussain’s horse) are taken out in decorative processions several times a day during Muharram. Zuljenah or ‘dul dul’ in common parlance is admired for its equine feats, of course, but particularly because it returned to the tent of Zainab and other ladies without its rider, Imam Hussain. The Zuljenah is, therefore, the first bearer of the news of what Shias consider the
...more
