Journey to hometown of Dr Gharib

Seventy six kilometers from Arak at the foothill of Kalaheh mountain lies a village which dates back to the Sassanid era.
Known as Garakan ,whose origins are taken from Gabrmakan which means where Zoroastrians resided, boasts 100-year-old trees and old houses.
Fire temples in Garakan and the villages around like the ruins of the fire temple of Azargashsp in the region of Fardjan in Farahan which was in place until 282 AH and the earthen graves in Garakan and the villages around all prove its been rightly named.
The fire temple of the ruined castle is located on top of the peak of Didgah. The place for storing water owned by the deceased Mostashar Almolk, the old Tekyeh, where the religious plays of Shabih Khani and Taeziye are performed, the tower and house of Master Abd Alzaim Gharib and Jame mosque are among its cultural and ancient highlights.
In the village there used to be old and new bath houses as well as a mortuary built with brick arches but they are now completely destroyed.
The villagers possess special customs and rituals and have still retained their special dialect and vocabulary.
The water of the village is supplied through springs in the southeast of Kalahe mountain which flow through passages called Soft and run through a famous valley known as Asiyabha watering the major orchards and fields of the village.
Of note is its water amount so that until 1305, all 19 water mills across the village were busy all year round.
But after the advent of engine mills they lost their significance and nowadays they are all devastated and their ruins is also fading away in some cases.
There is an impressive dam which carries the name of the village. To reach it, you should pass through narrow roads and exciting cols.
The unique ambience of the earth dam near the village offers a delightful landscape.
Almost in the northeast of Garakan stands a place known as Pei Aman valley. The valley and especially its part which belongs to the seasonal river of Takhtan and is made up of sand and stone have long been a holy and blessed place for the locals and they would vow to do something good for their wishes to come true.
Particular rituals named Ab Pashanak, literally water splashing, used to be held there until only recently in which the locals splashed clean water from a bowl or a cup onto the face or head of those who crossed their house.
They believed it brought good omens and happy luck.
No one would ever feel hurt and they would treat the water splasher kindly and warmly.
The rituals of water splashing is one of the traditions of Zoroastrians and belongs to the Sassanid era which was performed on the first day of Tir, the first month of the Iranian year. According to the Zoroastrians , Tir was the name of an angel who was a rain gaurdian.
Among other remarkable ceremonies is that the villagers from Garakan, Ashtiyan and other nearby villages try to pay a pilgrimage to 2 Imamzadeh shrines in a village about 10 km from Garakan named Ahu.
In addition to this all, what has made the name of the village quite well-known is that it's the hometown of many scientific dignitaries and scholars of the country, like Dr Mohammad Gharib, Iran's pediatrics , Dr Abdolkarim Gharib, Iran's geology father, Master Abdolazim Gharib Garakani, the founder of modern Persian literature, Ayatollah Ahmad Mohseni Garakani, Shams Alolamay-e Gharib, Master Badr Alzaman Gharib, Dr Ahmad Gharib, and so on.
That said, don't miss the striking historic place where scholars were born and put it on your agenda for your next trips. You'll never regret you did it.