Tekyeh Dowlat

 

A Holy spot for Baha'is, but not for its charm or historic events of state that occurred upon it.

Tekyeh Dowlat by Kamal-ol-Molk

Tekyeh Dowlat (Persian: تکیه دولت‎ lit. "State Theater") was a Royal Theater in Tehran, Iran. It was the most famous of all the ta'zieh performance spaces, for the Mourning of Muharram. It has a capacity for more than 4,000 people. Built in 1868 by Naser al-Din Shah Qajar south-east of the Golestan Palace ...the Royal Theater's sumptuous magnificence surpassed that of Europe's greatest opera houses in the opinion of many Western visitors. It was here that Reza Shah proclaimed the downfall of the Qajar dynasty. 

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Naser al-Din Shah Qajar's funeral at Tekyeh Dowlat.  He was assasinated.

Prime Minister Reza Pahlavi addressing the opening session of the Constituent assembly in Tekiyeh Dowlat 6 December 1925

Significantly for Baha'is, the Tekyeh Dowlat was built above the Siyah-Chal, or "Black Pit", the place of imprisonment of Baha'u'llah, and where He became aware of His station.

"While breathing the foul air of the Siyah-Chal, with his feet in stocks and His head weighed down by the mighty chain, Baha’u’llah received, as attested by Him in His Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, the first intimations of His station as the Supreme Manifestation of God—He whose appearance have been foretold by the Prophets of old in such terms as ‘the reincarnation of Krishna,’ the ‘fifth Buddha,’ the ‘Shah Bahram,’ the ‘Lord of Hosts,’ the Christ returned ‘in the glory of the Father,’ the ‘Spirit of God,’ and by the Bab as ‘Him Whom God shall make manifest.’ " – Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha’u’llah, Volume 1, p. 10.

Section through the Black Pit. Baha'u'llah, together with about 30 other Bábí's, were confined in the lowest level.

Of His confinement, Baha'u'llah wrote:

"We were all huddled together in one cell, our feet in stocks, and around our necks fastened the most galling of chains. The air we breathed was laden with the foulest impurities, while the floor on which we sat was covered with filth and infested with vermin. No ray of light was allowed to penetrate that pestilential dungeon or to warm its icy-coldness. We were placed in two rows, each facing the other. We had taught them [the imprisoned Babis] to repeat certain verses which, every night, they chanted with extreme fervour. ‘God is sufficient unto me; He verily is the All-sufficing!’ one row would intone, while the other would reply: ‘In Him let the trusting trust.’ The chorus of these gladsome voices would continue to peal out until the early hours of the morning. Their reverberation would fill the dungeon, and, piercing its massive walls, would reach the ears of Nasiri’d-Din Shah [Persia’s king], whose palace was not far distant from the place where we were imprisoned. ‘What means this sound?’ he was reported to have exclaimed. ‘It is the anthem the Babis are intoning in their prison,’ they replied. The Shah made no further remarks, nor did he attempt to restrain the enthusiasm his prisoners, despite the horrors of their confinement, continued to display. "– The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 631-632.

In 1868 the dungeon was filled-in and the Tekyeh Dowlat was built above it. The Tekyeh was destroyed in 1947. The site was acquired by Baháʼís in 1954, but was confiscated by the Islamic Revolution of 1979. 

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