NOURNEWS - The Peak of Shahvar in summer
During the summer, the Korsi is usually moved to a home warehouse or used as a decorating table until early fall. But don't forget that even in the shadow of the hot summer days and the starry nights of Tash, you still need blankets, quilts and Gelims (a kind of hand-woven blanket that the natives weave wool) when you sleep, and sometimes even need a heating device from sunset to morning.
Tash, Shahvar peak route
Under the pretext of this incident, I decided to introduce this heating device, which is a Korsi that is widely used and common in different mountainous areas of Iran, and we still see it more in rural areas and less in cities because I think, even the modernization of human life and the desire for urban and luxurious life have not been able to deprive Iranians of the pleasure of holding a Korsi at home and even royal palaces. The Korsi is a very old tool for heating homes that has not changed over time and still has its own fans. The pleasant warmth of the Korsi and the gathering of family members next to the Korsi are some of the benefits that do not obsolete the Korsi.
What is Korsi?
Korsi is a device that has traditionally been used by Iranians to warm homes in the winter. The Korsi consists of a wooden table measuring 1x1 meter and sometimes rectangular in shape, which is about three Vajab (A kind of Iranian measurement, the distance between the thumb finger and the little finger is called a vajab, which is equal to 22.5 cm and then 3 Vajab are around 67.5 cm) high.
It is covered with a large quilt so that the heat from the brazier or fire-pan does not come out from under the table and is not wasted. The quilt is then decorated with Jajim (is a handmade thick fabric is woven from colorful and delicate woolen or cotton threads or a mixture of the two), or Termeh (It is a kind of precious fabric woven from very delicate fibers, which is one of the exquisite textile handicrafts of Iran), or Chadorshab (colorful fabric and usually with a checkered pattern made of cotton or silk), and in proportion to the size of the Korsi, a copper tray is placed to hold lights, Samavar (is a metal container traditionally used to heat and boil water in Iran), fruit bowls, and other food items. It usually uses a few Motaka (a kind of long, cylindrical pillow), pillows and backrest to sit and sleep around the Korsi. The Korsi mattress is usually shorter but wider than a regular mattress, so that when placed on all four sides of the Korsi, its edges do not overlap and it is not uneven and uncomfortable.
Some people believed, it was a happy day and hour for the Korsi, and the eldest of the family had to enter the house that night with a sweets envelope. Usually Korsi Khaneh was a room facing the winter sun is perfect for putting Korsi.
Nowadays, Korsis are generally heated with electric heater or even a hundred watt lamp or, traditionally, with a fire-pan or brazier containing hot coals that is placed under the Korsi. But in ancient times, under this table, which was described, there is a brazier that provides the pleasant heat under the Korsi. Its preparation has traditionally had its own way: First, the bottoms and seams were completely covered with plaster. They sifted the ashes and then dug in the middle of the ashes, poured the crushed charcoal, put in the charcoal and blew it until the burning charcoal reached to the crushed charcoal. Then, slowly and gently, they covered the fire with ashes by a spatula, then the brazier left in the open air for a while to remove the smell of charcoal and carbon monoxide from coal, finally placed under the Korsi. Every few hours a layer of ash was removed, thus the fire was getting more and warmer and these alight coals lasted for 24 hours.
Another method of preparing fire was a bullet made of charcoal. In the summer, the coals were dumped in the basin of water, the sands of which were sediment, then the coals left on the water were collected, and they were hand-rolled into tight, compact pellets form and dried in the sun. So that, in the winter, two or three of these bullets were fired at the bottom of the brazier and the rest of the steps were carried out as mentioned.
Korsi pits were common among poor families who could not afford a fire pan or brazier. The pit was dug in the desired location, plastered around it, and a fire was set in it, and the Korsi was placed on it. Since this method was more useful for the poor and these families were not able to light two fires, they also used the fire of the Korsi to cook food, by installing a clamp from the inside to the middle of the ceil of the Korsi and hung their Abgousht Deizi (a kind of Iranian traditional food which is cooked in special pot). They hung the food on it every day and cooked it under the same Korsi. The use of Korsi pit in many families was not and is not due to financial poverty, but the pit in the Korsi was drilled in order to put a brazier or charcoal container inside the Korsi, which makes it easier to place the foot under the Korsi that don’t catch burning.
According Iran traditional medical, the Korsi keeps our body warm from below, where cold blood (phlegm and soda) tends to stay. These bloods accumulate there, sometimes settling so much that they cause diseases such as diabetes ulcers and so on. A Korsi allows these cold blood to be activated throughout the body and to go elsewhere and not sediment.
In Iranian culture and tradition, a Korsi is much more than a heating device, and as one of the tools of traditional culture, it has a memorable and nostalgic position, because its heartwarming and unique warmth brings together family members, who eat winter food and hearing the stories of grandparents spent the winter. In traditional Iranian celebrations such as Yalda (winter solstice) and Norouz (Zoroastrian New Year's Eve), a Korsi has played a prominent role in bringing family members together.
The place where people sit next to a chair is related to their role in the family. Usually the eldest member of the family is the one who is the farthest from the door of the room, and the youngest is the one closest to the door. There were usually two Korsis in the middle-class and the rich people houses, one for the family in one room and the other in the living room for the guests.
Royal Korsi Room, Niavaran Palace, Tehran
By: Dr. Seyedhossein Hosseiniseddiq - Faculty Member at Islamic Azad University
NOURNEWS