Imam Husayn Mausoleum

A golden dome over the grave of Husayn ibn Ali stands at the heart of Karbala in central Iraq, and every year it draws one of the largest religious gatherings on earth. Husayn, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and the third Imam of Twelver Shia Islam, was killed here in the Battle of Karbala in 680, and the shrine raised over his burial place is among the holiest sites of Shia Islam. Each year the Arba'in pilgrimage, which closes the forty days of mourning that follow Ashura, brings millions of people to the city; on the anniversary of his death the number of pilgrims has been put as high as 35 million.

The first marker over the grave was a simple structure of brick and plaster, attributed either to the Banu Asad tribe or to the rebel leader al-Mukhtar. Over the following two centuries the site was repeatedly built up and torn down. Abbasid caliphs alternately tolerated and suppressed it: under al-Mutawakkil in the 9th century the shrine was demolished and the ground ploughed and flooded in an attempt to erase the grave altogether, only for his son al-Muntasir to allow its rebuilding. The structure that forms the core of today's shrine was raised under the Buyid ruler Adud al-Dawla, completed in 371 AH (981–982), who also built markets and houses around it and enclosed Karbala with a wall. Because its main fabric held no timber, it survived a fire in the early 11th century and later the Mongol invasions.

Later dynasties added the layers of gold and tilework seen today. The Jalayirids completed the Golden Iwan in the late 14th century; the Safavids enlarged and enriched the complex, and work continued under Ottoman rule; and the Qajar ruler Agha Mohammad Khan had the dome gilded at the end of the 18th century. In 1801–1802 a Wahhabi army sacked Karbala and stripped the shrine of its lamps and treasures, after which Fath-Ali Shah Qajar paid for its repair and for a new grille over the tomb. The present dome, about 27 m high and sheathed entirely in gold, stands above the zarih, the metal enclosure around the grave. Husayn's sons Ali al-Akbar and the infant Ali al-Asghar lie beside him, and most of the companions who fell with him are believed to be buried within the complex. To the northeast stands the shrine of his half-brother and standard-bearer Abbas, and the open ground between the two, Bayn al-Haramayn, joins them into a single sacred precinct. Karbala itself grew up around the shrine and owes its existence as a city to it.

Getting there

The shrine stands in the centre of Karbala. The nearest major airport is Baghdad International Airport (BGW), about 74 km away in a straight line to the northeast.