Pardis Gardens in Iran (Persia) and Their Impact on Art and Carpets
by Majid Paydar, PhD
Water: An Image of Paradise
The geography of Iran shows that most of the country suffers from an insufficient amount of rainfall annually, with the exception of limited northern areas around the Caspian Sea. Two big deserts, Dasht-e-Kavir and Kavir-e-Lute, cover a significant part of the country. Historically, the herdsmen’s nomadic lifestyle emerged from necessity, as survival depended upon searching for green pastures.
Farmers who live in villages depend on irrigation, which fostered the early development of sophisticated irrigation systems. For example, Qanat is a unique technique that was designed to bring water from miles away to villages, through a system of interconnected tunnels and wells. Ancient Persia, as the country was called prior to 1935, exported irrigation designs as far away as China.
Confrontation with the hostile environment has caused Iranians to have a high degree of appreciation for existing gardens. Scarcity of natural vegetation increases their desire to create gardens. This desire is not necessarily economically oriented, but a more physical and spiritual need for refreshing the soul in a hot, dry climate. Planting trees and flowers, preserving water, and treasuring gardens are cultural pursuits not confined to a particular social class. In the traditional housing style, no matter how small the yard, there is usually a small pond, a few trees and flowers, and possibly fruit trees and vegetable gardens.
In the Persian language, Pardis, Ferdous, Behesht, or Bagh are all synonyms for a garden which has physical and metaphysical inferences. The “Garden of Paradise” is an interesting symbol and, as Manzoor indicates:
“The image of Paradise in Iran, with its eternal and spiritual qualities, has been manifested best in the garden, literature, carpet, and miniature. A garden has been one of the most genuine expressions of Iranian civilization, reflecting the image of cosmos on earth. This concept, which fosters order and harmony, may be manifested to the senses through numbers, geometry, color and matter.”[1]
by Majid Paydar, PhD
Water: An Image of Paradise
The geography of Iran shows that most of the country suffers from an insufficient amount of rainfall annually, with the exception of limited northern areas around the Caspian Sea. Two big deserts, Dasht-e-Kavir and Kavir-e-Lute, cover a significant part of the country. Historically, the herdsmen’s nomadic lifestyle emerged from necessity, as survival depended upon searching for green pastures.
Farmers who live in villages depend on irrigation, which fostered the early development of sophisticated irrigation systems. For example, Qanat is a unique technique that was designed to bring water from miles away to villages, through a system of interconnected tunnels and wells. Ancient Persia, as the country was called prior to 1935, exported irrigation designs as far away as China.
Confrontation with the hostile environment has caused Iranians to have a high degree of appreciation for existing gardens. Scarcity of natural vegetation increases their desire to create gardens. This desire is not necessarily economically oriented, but a more physical and spiritual need for refreshing the soul in a hot, dry climate. Planting trees and flowers, preserving water, and treasuring gardens are cultural pursuits not confined to a particular social class. In the traditional housing style, no matter how small the yard, there is usually a small pond, a few trees and flowers, and possibly fruit trees and vegetable gardens.
In the Persian language, Pardis, Ferdous, Behesht, or Bagh are all synonyms for a garden which has physical and metaphysical inferences. The “Garden of Paradise” is an interesting symbol and, as Manzoor indicates:
“The image of Paradise in Iran, with its eternal and spiritual qualities, has been manifested best in the garden, literature, carpet, and miniature. A garden has been one of the most genuine expressions of Iranian civilization, reflecting the image of cosmos on earth. This concept, which fosters order and harmony, may be manifested to the senses through numbers, geometry, color and matter.”[1]
Impact on Art
In the same book, Paradis Garden in Iran, Manzoor says that the concept of paradise garden and its impact on architecture and art among Iranians is as old as 2000 BC. Arthur Pope says that Cyrus the Great himself planned the great park at Sardis and that he had planted trees with his own hands around 500 BC. Moreover, around 1000 AD Ferdowsi wrote about the influence of the paradise garden in literature in his classic epic, Shah Nameh.[2]
Around the 7th century the Koran reinforced the notion of the Garden of Paradise as an ideal promised place for faithful followers of the Islamic holy book. As the Islamic religion spread, the concept of a paradise garden spread through the Middle East, eastward to India, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and as far as China. Northwards, it spread to Turkey and through central Africa into Spain and France.[3]
The Achaemenid Empire
The concept of a Paradise Garden and the love for creating gardens among Persians goes at least as far back as the Achaemenid Empire, which began with the reign of Cyrus II in 559 BC. The concept of paradise as a garden has never declined among Iranians. Although historically established for many centuries before the prevalence of Islam, growth of the religion has intensified the concept, which grew both from within and without. Internally, the concept influenced other aspects of the culture such as literature and poetry, art, architecture, miniature painting, and rug weaving. Externally, it had an impact on other nations such as the Middle Eastern countries and eastward as far as China, as well as in Africa and Europe.
“Garden” Concepts
The Garden of Paradise image has excited artists and artisans through many centuries. In the rug industry, specifically, various forms of the garden carpet have been created as a manifestation of Pardis garden by rug designers and weavers to immortalize their imagination of the concept.
Accordingly, traditional Persian carpets were often influenced by the Garden of Paradise idea. One example is the pattern called a “garden carpet,” with imaginary trees and flowers, and usually with no center medallion. Occasionally the design is presented as a single imaginary tree with branches, leaves, flowers, and birds, often called the “Tree of Life” pattern. Some of these rugs are designed with a multitude of blocks, with each block presenting a different part of the garden. This style is called a Kheshti rug.
Sometimes rugs were made in the form of Chahar Bagh, or the four-fold garden. The Chahar Bagh usually is a rectangle divided symmetrically into four parts, with two crossing canals forming the division lines and a pond as the center focal point. Trees and birds fill each of the four sections. Sometimes this style is interpreted as a Chahar Fasl, or four seasons design.
Design elements in garden carpets are usually a cross section of the elements of a garden—water, trees, flowers, and birds or animals. For example, in many Bakhtiari rugs you find cypress trees, weeping willows, pines, and roses. However, these constituent elements of a garden are sometimes transformed into abstract forms, according to the perceptive imagination of the weavers.
Universal Symbols
The first main component of the garden is water. Water is universally a symbol of life. People like Iranians who live in an arid country believe that “wherever there is water, there is life.”[4] In the garden carpet, water is represented as ponds and canals (See illustration). The second element is trees and greenery. Trees are a symbol of growth and life to Iranians. The cypress tree (sarv) is a favored evergreen, and its slender shape and longevity makes it a symbol of long life. Among other trees in rug designs are pine, poplar, Chenar, oak, and maple. Fruit trees represented include pistachio, pomegranate, citrus fruits in general, pear, apple, persimmon, walnut, apricot, and plum. Quince and grapes are often included as well. Among flowers depicted are roses, tulips, jasmine, and daffodils.
National Treasures
Some of the well-known gardens that inspire artists are national treasures in Iran. These include Fin Garden in Kashan, Shah Nematollah Vali in Kerman, Hafez tomb garden in Shiraz, Saadi tomb garden in Shiraz, Chehel Sotun garden in Esfahan, Hasht Behesht (eight paradises) in Esfahan, Bagh-e-Eram in Shiraz and Naranjestan in Shiraz.
Today there are a number of Pardis gardens in Iran as national treasures. They are visited by thousands every year.
[1] Manzoor, S. Pardis Gardens in Iran. 1993. p. 6.
[2] Ibid p. 6.
[3] Ibid p. 8.
[4] Ibid p. 30.
In the same book, Paradis Garden in Iran, Manzoor says that the concept of paradise garden and its impact on architecture and art among Iranians is as old as 2000 BC. Arthur Pope says that Cyrus the Great himself planned the great park at Sardis and that he had planted trees with his own hands around 500 BC. Moreover, around 1000 AD Ferdowsi wrote about the influence of the paradise garden in literature in his classic epic, Shah Nameh.[2]
Around the 7th century the Koran reinforced the notion of the Garden of Paradise as an ideal promised place for faithful followers of the Islamic holy book. As the Islamic religion spread, the concept of a paradise garden spread through the Middle East, eastward to India, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and as far as China. Northwards, it spread to Turkey and through central Africa into Spain and France.[3]
The Achaemenid Empire
The concept of a Paradise Garden and the love for creating gardens among Persians goes at least as far back as the Achaemenid Empire, which began with the reign of Cyrus II in 559 BC. The concept of paradise as a garden has never declined among Iranians. Although historically established for many centuries before the prevalence of Islam, growth of the religion has intensified the concept, which grew both from within and without. Internally, the concept influenced other aspects of the culture such as literature and poetry, art, architecture, miniature painting, and rug weaving. Externally, it had an impact on other nations such as the Middle Eastern countries and eastward as far as China, as well as in Africa and Europe.
“Garden” Concepts
The Garden of Paradise image has excited artists and artisans through many centuries. In the rug industry, specifically, various forms of the garden carpet have been created as a manifestation of Pardis garden by rug designers and weavers to immortalize their imagination of the concept.
Accordingly, traditional Persian carpets were often influenced by the Garden of Paradise idea. One example is the pattern called a “garden carpet,” with imaginary trees and flowers, and usually with no center medallion. Occasionally the design is presented as a single imaginary tree with branches, leaves, flowers, and birds, often called the “Tree of Life” pattern. Some of these rugs are designed with a multitude of blocks, with each block presenting a different part of the garden. This style is called a Kheshti rug.
Sometimes rugs were made in the form of Chahar Bagh, or the four-fold garden. The Chahar Bagh usually is a rectangle divided symmetrically into four parts, with two crossing canals forming the division lines and a pond as the center focal point. Trees and birds fill each of the four sections. Sometimes this style is interpreted as a Chahar Fasl, or four seasons design.
Design elements in garden carpets are usually a cross section of the elements of a garden—water, trees, flowers, and birds or animals. For example, in many Bakhtiari rugs you find cypress trees, weeping willows, pines, and roses. However, these constituent elements of a garden are sometimes transformed into abstract forms, according to the perceptive imagination of the weavers.
Universal Symbols
The first main component of the garden is water. Water is universally a symbol of life. People like Iranians who live in an arid country believe that “wherever there is water, there is life.”[4] In the garden carpet, water is represented as ponds and canals (See illustration). The second element is trees and greenery. Trees are a symbol of growth and life to Iranians. The cypress tree (sarv) is a favored evergreen, and its slender shape and longevity makes it a symbol of long life. Among other trees in rug designs are pine, poplar, Chenar, oak, and maple. Fruit trees represented include pistachio, pomegranate, citrus fruits in general, pear, apple, persimmon, walnut, apricot, and plum. Quince and grapes are often included as well. Among flowers depicted are roses, tulips, jasmine, and daffodils.
National Treasures
Some of the well-known gardens that inspire artists are national treasures in Iran. These include Fin Garden in Kashan, Shah Nematollah Vali in Kerman, Hafez tomb garden in Shiraz, Saadi tomb garden in Shiraz, Chehel Sotun garden in Esfahan, Hasht Behesht (eight paradises) in Esfahan, Bagh-e-Eram in Shiraz and Naranjestan in Shiraz.
Today there are a number of Pardis gardens in Iran as national treasures. They are visited by thousands every year.
[1] Manzoor, S. Pardis Gardens in Iran. 1993. p. 6.
[2] Ibid p. 6.
[3] Ibid p. 8.
[4] Ibid p. 30.
