KRG continues to renovate Yezidi temples, shrines, and archaeological sites

ERBIL (Kurdistan Region) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) continues to renovate Yezidi temples, shrines, and archaeological sites in the Kurdistan Region. 

Renovation and restoration work is continuing at the Pere-Khosh-Ava shrine in the Shekhan district, with around 90 percent of the work finalized. 

As per the scheduled plan, the renovation will end in the next ten or fifteen days, and the shrine will be open for Yezidis to visit and practice their religious rituals. 

Hashim Abdal, the engineer working on the project, told Kurdistan 24’s correspondent in the Shekhan district that the Pere-Khosh-Ava shrine includes a 12-meter high dome, measuring 5 meters in width, designed in accordance with the Yezidi spiritual council’s wishes. 

The renovation project is a part of the KRG Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs’ broader commitment to renovate all the Yezidi temples, shrines, and archaeological sites in Kurdistan Region. 

“The KRG pays significant attention to the Yezidis. It puts a lot of efforts and funds together to renovate our shrines and ensure the existence of freedom of religion in the region,” Masoud Mahmoud, a Yezidi resident from Shekhan, told Kurdistan 24. “We (The Yezidis) have to recognize and appreciate what the KRG does for us.” 

In the past three years, multiple projects have been undertaken by the KRG to restore and improve Yezidi temples and other holy Yezidi archaeological sites in the Kurdistan Region’s districts and villages, including but not limited to the Lalish temple.

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