Qom city - Qom Province

Qom is a religious city just 160 Km south west of Tehran, the capital of Iran. Since this city plays a great role in Iran’s governance, there is lots of attention on this city. Beside the modern attention, the city has an independent character regarding its culture and its influence on the whole country.
Qom is considered to be a holy city among Shia Muslims, as it is the site of the shrine of Fatema Masume, sister of Imam Ali ibn Musa Reza (789-816 A.D.). The city is the largest center for Shia scholarship in the world, and is a significant destination for pilgrims.

Shrine, Qom

I travelled to one of Qom’s suburbs last month to dig one of its most famous handicrafts known for Iranians and also for the whole world from Iran: The Blue beads!

The Original Blue Beads

The Blue Beads are known to be of good luck and bringing you the good things while they keep the curse and bad luck far from your fate. Those are all about superstitions of course, but the blue glaze on the beads, are welcome by most cultures by the way.

Making Blue Beads

Qom is the origination of blue beads since 1000 B.C. but nowadays we see Turkish handicraft makers claim Blue Beads are originated from their country, which is simply a false judgment regarding the most famous encyclopedia, Britannica.

A modern Islamic Blue Beads Handicraft