Vassunak

Marriage celebrations in different regions of Iran take place in alignment with the culture and history of every region. Customs such as official proposing, baleh borun, and hanabandon are prevalent in most parts of Iran and are performed in each region with slight changes. However, there are also some customs, related to marriage, which are specific to some regions and are not seen elsewhere. “Vassunak” or “Vassunak-khani” is one of the customs that has been going on in traditional families of Shiraz and some other cities of Fars province.

What Is Vassunak?

Vassunak, meaning praising the girl by her family, is a type of folk song that the people of Shiraz sing during different marriage-related ceremonies and is composed of short common happy lyrics and is usually accompanied by music and dancing.

This custom is mostly performed by women. They ululate while singing Vassunak and one of them accompanies the individual or the group singing it by playing a tambourine. Ululation is a long, wavering, high-pitched, and cheerful vocal sound resembling a howl with a trilling quality that is performed during times of happiness. In some parts of Fars Province, Vassunak is also called “Sorud” or “Suri”.

When Is Vassunak Usually Performed?

This custom is mostly performed among the nomads of Fars province and the Vassunaks of Basseri Tribe are famous in Fars Province. The Basseri tribe is a Persian-speaking nomadic tribe who live in Fars province and weave high-quality carpets and rugs. The population of this tribe is about 100 thousand people and flute and reed are the special instruments they use for performing their traditional music. The colorful clothes worn by Basseri nomadic women for performing and singing Vassunak, give it a special effect. The wedding ceremonies of the Basseri tribe usually last for more than two days, during which the customs of hejlebandan (preparing the room for the consummation of marriage), groom’s bathing, hanabandan, jahiziehkeshan (displaying the dowry), and arousbaran (taking the bride) are performed joyfully. All these ceremonies are usually accompanied by Vassunak.

The Contents of Vassunak

Vasunak consists of folk songs related to marriage. These songs talk about love and human dreams. The composers of these songs are unknown and they did not stick to lines and rhymes in their songs. Therefore, the lyrics are usually melodious and express what the composers had in mind. Over time, those who sing Vassunak have added certain verses to these lyrics, based on their taste, and what is known today as Vassunak lyrics is the result of the accumulation of a number of people’s tastes.

The Stages of the Marriage in which Vassunak is Performed

The are several Vassunaks that are performed from the time of the proposal ceremony to the time when the bride goes to the groom’s house. Therefore, it is possible that singing Vassunak may take place several times and during the different stages of the marriage ceremony. Vassunak is usually performed as a single beat and with “six and eight” rhythms in the Shushtari modal.

Vassunak is usually performed by the bride’s family, but some Vassunaks are two-sided and sung by both the bride’s and the groom’s families each containing lyrics sung in response to each other.

In the past, the Shirazis used to book such bathhouses as Vakil Bathhouse for performing a certain marriage custom, and women would engage in singing Vassunak.

Vassunak is a traditional folklore song in the Fars Province of Iran, the content of which is composed of short common lyrics and is usually sung at weddings.