Sakhi Shrine, Islamic shrine and mosque at Karte Sakhi district, Kabul, Afghanistan.
Sakhi Shrine is a mosque and sacred sanctuary in Kabul, located at the base of Asamayi Hill with multiple domes and glazed ceramic tiles. The structure displays neo-Safavid Persian architectural features typical of religious buildings across the Islamic world.
Ahmad Shah Durrani ordered the first structure built in 1181 AH (1767/1768 CE) after the cloak of Muhammad rested here for eight months en route to Kandahar. The present building was erected by Hayat Begum, mother of Amanullah Khan, in 1919, the year of Afghan independence; she added a second dome. Four more domes were added in renovations between 2008 and 2016.
The shrine is visited mainly by Hazaras, a Shiʿi community, and every year a Nowruz celebration is held outside it, when a large banner is raised in remembrance of Imam Ali, Muhammad's standard-bearer. On the women's side a tight staircase cut into the bedrock leads to a small cave-like chamber where women leave petitions and votive offerings; on the men's side a hand-print relic is kept.
A tight staircase on the women's side descends into a small chamber cut from the bedrock, where women leave petitions and votive offerings. On the men's side, look for the hand-print relic. The shrine sits at the foot of Television Hill, with the Sakhi Cemetery to its north and west.
The rock where Imam Ali is said to have placed his double-tipped sword Zulfiqar is now enclosed within the shrine building. A small underground chamber cut into the bedrock, reached by a tight staircase from the women's side, holds petitions and votive offerings.
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