AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Winners of the 8th edition of the Arbaeen International Award were announced and awarded at a ceremony here in Tehran on Monday.
The Al-Zahra Husseiniya at the headquarters of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO) hosted the ceremony, which was attended by a number of officials such as Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Mehdi Esmaeili and ICRO chief Hojat-ol-Islam Mohammad Mehdi Imanipour, as well as guests from Iran and a number of other countries.
Participants from 20 countries had submitted works about Arbaeen in such fields as photography, videos, and travelogues, books and social media.
In photography, Mohammad Ibrahim Abdel Amir from Iraq and Hamid Abedi from Iran came first.
In the book section, Hadi Ghiyasi and Mohammad Nasravi from Iran jointly won the top award.
Batul Zahra Akyul from Turkey bagged the top prize in the field of travelogues while Sajjad Mahmoudi from Australia and Seyed Nematollah Esmaeili from Iran came first in the category of vidoes.
ICRO has organized the Arabeen Award since 2014 with the aim of reflecting the manifestations of this international religious event to the world.
Wherever words cannot convey the greatness of a message, the best communication medium would be the language of art. That is why ICRO decided to hold the international award annually in the categories of photos, videos, and travelogues, with the aim of spreading the message of Arbaeen and Ashura.
Arbaeen, which is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, comes 40 days after Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of the third Shia Imam, Imam Hussein (AS).
Each year, a huge crowd of Shias flock to the Iraqi city of Karbala, where the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) is located, to perform mourning rites on Arbaeen.
The pilgrims, mainly from Iraq and Iran, travel long routes on foot to the holy city.
In September 2022, a large number of people from different countries took part in the Arbaeen rituals, setting a new record.
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