The Development History of the Holy Shrine of Hazrat-e Ma‘soumeh (pbuh) in Qom, Iran: Hierarchy of Entry From the Safavid Period to the Qajar Period

Entrance to sacred places where pilgrims enter enthusiastically for pilgrimage and request for divine bestowal expose one of the characteristics of pilgrimage called the hierarchy of entry. There have been numerous studies on the necessity and quality of sequential spaces for entry to sacred sites in Iran, but little research has been done on the cognitive impact of this hierarchy on the visitor (pilgrim or tourist). The findings of this study show that the shrine of Hazrat-e Ma‘soumeh (pbuh) always had a spatial hierarchy during the Safavid and Qajar periods, although it was constantly modified, and still different from how it is currently. This paper seeks to study the cognitive impact of the hierarchy of entry on the visitors of Hazrat-e Ma‘sumeh holy shrine. In order to reconstruct a proper picture of entry into the shrine in the Safavid and Qajar periods, a descriptive research method was used to analyze library sources, most importantly, pictorial sources (maps, engravings, and photographs) and written sources containing the history of the city of Qom—especially the travelogues written by pilgrims, merchants, and travelers who traveled to or passed through Qom. Since this study seeks to understand the cognitive impacts of the hierarchy of entry to sacred places, travelogues are the most important sources of research as they express the perception of writers upon their entrance to the shrine. Examination of visual sources and texts of travelogues reveals a clear picture of the hierarchy of entry to the shrine, as well as its development from the Safavid period to the end of the Qajar period. This paper, for the first time, introduces the hierarchy of entry to the holy shrine of Hazrat-e Ma‘soumeh (pbuh) with details of sequential spaces and their cognitive impact on visitors.