The Holy of Three Religions

Today I would like to tell you about the mausoleum of the Old Testament prophet Daniel (Daniel), who in Islam is called Haji Donier. Daniel is one of the great prophets, whom Jews, Christians and Muslims alike honor.
His mausoleum is located in Samarkand, on the north-eastern outskirts of the ancient settlement Afrasiab.

According to legend, in Samarkand lies only part of the remains of the saint, who brought Tamerlane from the city of Susa, when he made there an aggressive campaign. According to legend, when a caravan with the ashes of a saint approached the outskirts of Samarkand, he stopped on the bank of a small river Siab. At the behest of Tamerlane, the remains of Saint Donier were buried in the place where the horse stopped, and a mosque was built over the grave, which was not preserved. The present mausoleum of Saint Donier is a building of the XX century, which was built on the remains of the older one.

According to legend, the grave of St. Donier is constantly increasing and already reaches 18 meters. Indeed, the tombstone in the mausoleum is very long, which is unusual for burials not only in Samarkand, but throughout Central Asia. Some researchers claim that Tamerlane brought from Susa not the remains of the body of a saint (as a true Muslim he would not have dared to disturb the ashes of the deceased), but the earth from the grave of Daniel. Then this land was mixed with Samarkand land and built such a long tombstone so that no one could find and share the land from the grave of the saint from the Samarkand land.

According to legend, the horse, which carried the ashes of Daniel, stopped and struck the hoof on the ground and from there, scored a healing spring. This spring is considered sacred and pilgrims drink this water, considering it curative.

Under the blue dome is the source itself, the water from which flows into this small brick building of the sardoba (ie the pool), from where it can be recruited.

In 1996, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II arrived in Samarkand, who visited the mausoleum of the holy three religions. Near the mausoleum stood a dried pistachio tree, which Alexis II decided to consecrate. After a while it blossomed again.

There are several other legends and legends related to the mausoleum of Haji Donier - there is not heard the singing of birds. Indeed, when I was there, I did not hear the twittering of the lanes - the ubiquitous Afghan starlings. Pilgrims of all three religions come to bow to the grave of the saint and read prayers in different languages of the world. Now, in the period of the complex international situation, in the conditions of the growth of xenophobic sentiments, we especially want to believe that the ashes of the great saint revered by the main religions in the world really rest there.

Pilgrims and travelers from all over the world come to this place and worship it. And maybe there is no remains of Saint Daniel (and was he actually?), But people's faith already makes this place sacred ...