Pandama
 Tarmida Sahi Bashikh wearing a pandama (mouth veil) as he reads Mandaean prayers at Yahya Yuhana Mandi during Parwanaya 2025 | |
| Type | mouth-veil |
|---|---|
| Material | cotton cloth |
| Place of origin | southern Iraq and southwestern Iran |
The pandama (Classical Mandaic: ࡐࡀࡍࡃࡀࡌࡀ) is a mouth-veil worn by Mandaean priests while performing baptismal ceremonial rituals. It is the loose end of the burzinqa (turban) and is wrapped around the mouth and lower face.[1] The pandama also protects the face from water during masbuta rituals.[2] The pandama is worn only by officiating priests, not by Mandaean laymen.
In the Qulasta
[edit]Several prayers in the Qulasta are recited when putting on and loosening the pandama, including prayers 7 and 55.[3]
Symbolism
[edit]According to Shahram Ebadfardzadeh, an Iranian-American yalufa (learned Mandaean layperson) in San Antonio, Texas, United States, "when the priest officiates, he is an angel, and his lower face must not be seen, but covered up."[4]: 29
See also
[edit]
- Mandaean priest § Clothing
- Litham, a similar veil covering the lower face worn by Tuareg men
- Alasho, a similar turban veil worn by Hausa men
References
[edit]- ^ Al-Mubaraki, Majid Fandi; Al-Mubaraki, Zaid; AlMubaraki, Brian (2000). The Mandaean Rasta: Its Making and Wearing. Northbridge, New South Wales. ISBN 0-9585705-6-6. OCLC 50163136.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002). The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people (PDF). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515385-5. OCLC 65198443.
- ^ Drower, E. S. (1959). The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
- ^ Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2023). 1800 Years of Encounters with Mandaeans. Gorgias Mandaean Studies. Vol. 5. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-4632-4132-2. ISSN 1935-441X.
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