Shafaq News- Karbala

Dolma has become one of the most popular dishes served to pilgrims walking to Karbala for the Arbaeen commemoration of Imam Hussein.

Um Mohammed, known as the mawkib's cook, told Shafaq News on Friday that she prepares dolma, stuffed vegetables with rice and meat, every year with her family and other women to serve the pilgrims.

Thousands of mawkibs (pilgrim service groups) line the main roads leading to Karbala, offering food and drinks to pilgrims arriving from across Iraq and abroad. They are part of the logistical and service plans organized for the Arbaeen pilgrimage and operate under official security protection.

Shia Muslims observe Ashura to commemorate the killing of Imam Hussein, his family, and his companions in the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE at the hands of the Umayyad Caliph Yazid ibn Muawiya's army. The mourning period culminates 40 days later with Arbaeen, which falls on August 4 this year and is one of the world's largest annual religious gatherings.