TEHRAN, Iran: The newly-designed zarih, or the outer coffin enclosure, of the holy shrine of Imam Hossein (AS), which is located in holy Karbala, Iraq, is currently being completed in holy Qom, Iran.

Iranian miniaturist Mahmud Farshchian was commissioned to create the new design in 2007 by the director of the Zarih-Making Board of Trustees in Qom, Mohammad Parchebaf.

The project began in 2008 with the construction of the framework using silver, gold and teakwood, which is used for its hard, durable, and resinous qualities.

Carpenters Mehdi Didar and Akbar Rahim were assigned to build the primary wooden framework.

Calligrapher Mohammad Hosseini Movahhed is in charge of inscribing the holy verses of Quran and names of the Imams on the zarih.

Master of the art of embossing Mostafa Khodadadzadeh is tasked along with his team to finish the work of embossing Farshchian’s designs and Movahhed’s calligraphy on layers of silver and gold.

It is estimated that the total weight of the silver used in the layers will be 1800 kg, the gold will be 1250 kg, while the copper to be used will be 600 kg.

Crystals with the ability to change light and color are to be installed inside the zarih.

The cost of the project is also estimated at 50.b rials (about 4.7m$) excluding the gold. The board of trustees has decided to make use of the gold that has been donated by people and lovers of Imam Hossein (AS) for the time being.

Farshchian previously designed and created the metallic artwork of the zarih of the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) in Mashhad, which was installed in 2004. This project took seven years from design to completion.