Will Miss #32: Vakil Public Bath Wax Museum in Shiraz

Imagine you're a Persian man during the Qajar dynasty in Shiraz, Iran. What is it like to go to a public bath? Scroll to find out. 

       

The wax figures were incredibly realistic. See the photo of the man lying down, right above the video? The guard said that if we looked at him for a while, it would appear as if he's breathing - and he was right! Sure enough, after several moments of looking at him, it really did look like his chest was moving up and down. Also, there was a sound system in the building, with recordings of people talking - the wax figures were "saying" things. It was all quite realistic. 

You might be wondering why there are wax figures of fully clothed women in a public bath. Those women are not supposed to be a part of the public bath - they are standing in a circle, around the "bride" for a hanabandoon ceremony. According to blogger Azita of "Tumeric and Saffron" (http://turmericsaffron.blogspot.com/2013/01/hana-bandan-iranian-henna-bridal-party.html), hanabandoon "is an old Iranian pre-wedding ritual dating back to several hundred years ago. The henna ceremony is usually held by the bride's family the day before the wedding and henna paste is applied on the bride's hands and sometimes the groom's hands and feet as the family gets ready to send their daughter off to start a new chapter in her life. This tradition may vary from region to region and from household to household. It's believed that applying henna brings good luck and happiness to the newlyweds."

The Vakil Public Bath Wax Museum is located right next to the entrance of the Vakil Bazaar. According to its Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vakil_Bath), this bath "was a part of the royal district constructed during Karim Khan Zand's reign, which includes Arg of Karim Khan, Vakil Bazaar, Vakil Mosque and many administrative buildings."

I will miss this public bath wax museum.