| Description |
The element is recognized as one of the main elements of cultural and social identity for the regions in which it is crafted and played. The bearers and practitioners are mostly farmers including men as crafters and players and women as players, and recently a number of them are young researchers of both genders. Its traditional knowledge of crafting and playing is informally transmitted through generations by the master-student method. This element is seen in local, oral and written literature (including local poems, proverbs, chants and lullabies) which constitute a part of nature, history, and background of the bearers. As this element is shared by a number of communities, groups and individuals, it brings mutual respect and understanding amongst the communities concerned.
Dotār is a folkloric plucked-string musical instrument that has been played in social and cultural events/spaces such as weddings, parties, celebrations, ritual ceremonies etc. Dotār has a bowl which is pear-shaped and made of dried wood of dead mulberry tree and its neck is made of apricot or walnut wood. It has two strings traditionally made of silk which been replaced with metal wires nowadays. Some believe that one string is male and functions as accord and the other is female which plays the main melody.
The crafters also repect nature as they use dead and dried wood for making Dotār.
It is not in opposition toward the national and international instruments like Universal Human Rights Declaration, sustainable development , etc. |
| Social and cultural significance |
In all areas where Dotār is played, it is used for joyful parties, weddings, family and friendly night parties, and gnostic rituals. Dotār can express the ethnic and local identity of the domain in which it is played. Its sounds can calm the audience and unveil the joy hidden in the traditional culture of the said domain. While playing, the players narrate epic, historical, lyric, moral and gnostic narrations that constitute their ethnic history, pride and identity. Consequently, this also safeguards not only the element but also a part of their identity. Since the audience is attracted to the music of their homeland, they have been/are invited to all private and family celebrations and parties.
Because of the changes in society, there are also some changes in this element; for example, Dotār is usually played solo but nowadays a group of players establish a music band or a Dotār player joins a group of players of other traditional musical instruments. Such companionship is not only positive but also bolsters the survival and continuance of the element especially among the young audience.
In recent decades, Dotār is played in local, regional, national and international music festivals. The remarkable point is that the Dotār players bring their children -boys or girls- to the festivals to play while wearing ethnic or local costumes. In this way, they show a part of their ethnic or local identity as well as an element of their intangible cultural heritage to the audience unknown them. |
| Transmission method |
The traditional knowledge of crafting and playing Dotār has been/is informally transmitted through the master-student method. Through years of training, not only the music but the social and cultural norms and merits of the region were thaught in this method. For example, all of the "Bakhshīs" and "Dotārīs" living in the Dotār-domain areas have learned playing and narrating from their fathers, uncles or other elder members of their families, although a number of non-family students may exist. It should be added that to complete their mastery, the students continue their training before other masters of the region. Besides, the informal transmission applies to the traditional knowledge of crafting. This mostly happens in small private workhops.
Nowadays, in addition to informal transmission in the rural areas, a number of classes and institutions have been established in the towns and cities by the government or private sector. It should be stressed that informal transmission is the major method even in the urban classes where boys and girls learn to play Dotār together. While training, a student cannot take a new melody, when he/she fails to learn the one. Although the students in urban classes are mostly not the family members or relatives of the masters, they do their best to appreciate the cultural, historical, social and ethical merites behind the Dotār playing and crafting. |
| Community |
Here are two separate lists of communities, groups and individuals who are active in crafting, playing and training Dotār:
A) Crafting Part:
- City of Mashhad: Workshops managed by Masters Mohsen Asgarian, Mohammad Yeganeh, Mohammad Divangahi, Mohsen Haddad, Abbas Mehrabi
- City of Qouchan: Master Reza Moravej Qouchani
- City of Bojnourd: Master Hanif Mohammadi
- City of Torbat Jam: Masters Hossein Daman-Pak (affilated to the provicial office of ICHHTO)
- City of Ramian: Master Mohammad Na'eemi
- Cities of Gonbad & Bander-e Turkaman: Masters: Mohammad-Gholi Moghimi, Khodaverdi Ownagh, Youssef Dibaee, Mansour Asayesh
B) Playing & Training Part
- Home and private classes (informal training) across the rural and urban areas of the Dotār-domain region
- Classes (semi-informal training) oganized by the provincial office of the ICHHTO in Khorasan, Golestan and Mazandaran provinces
- Classes (semi-informal training) organized by the Cultural Deputyship of the manucipality of the Dotār-domain region.
Dotār players, crafters and trainers are the main bearers and practitioners of the element. They also enjoy a higher social status. ""Dotārīs"" are the most prominent Dotār players in east of Razavi Khorasan and Mazandaran provinces who narrate along with playing. They have been traditionally/informally taught through generations and now teach the same to their students. Almost all of the crafters are men but there is no age and gender limit among the Dotār players. Some of the crafters play and train apprentices as well for example Master Hossein Daman-Pak who crafts Dotār in his private workshop and trains his students in the same place.
As said earlier, they have a higher social status as they transmit their religious, historical, literary and moral values through their narrations. In addition, when a problem arises in their community or ethnic group, they are called to solve the dispute. ""Bakhshīs"" are the same as ""Dotārīs"" but in the northern part of Khorasan and Turkaman Sahra region.
The ""Bakhshīs"" and ""Dotārīs"" have been and are invited to provincial, regional, national and international music festivals as the mainstay of Dotār-domain regions in the northeastern part of Iran. Finally, the bearers' most important responsibility is transmission of a part of heir cultural identity through this element. |
| Type of UNESCO List |
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity |
| Incribed year in UNESCO List |
2019 |
