Muharram Festival Procession, Baroda (1880)

Photograph of a Muharram procession in Baroda (Vadodara) from the 'Album of portraits and views in Baroda' taken by an unknown photographer in c. 1880. The festival commemorates the popular saint Imam Husain, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson and the spiritual leader of the Shias. He was martyred in 61 AH/680 AD in Karbala. It is celebrated with lavishly decorated tazivas (bamboo and paper replicas of the martyr’s tomb) which are carried through the streets of the city. Mourners beat their breasts accompanied by musicians, dancers and wrestlers who enact scenes depicting the battle at Karbala, when Imam Husain was martyred.