Shafaq News- Baghdad

Hundreds of Sabean-Mandaeans gathered along the Tigris River in Baghdad on Saturday to celebrate Dehwa Hanina, or the Feast of Prosperity, with traditional baptisms, prayers, and rituals honoring deceased relatives.

Families arrived at the riverbank early in the morning for baptisms, which require flowing water in Mandaean tradition. Dressed in traditional white cotton garments known as rasta, men, women, and children entered the river under the guidance of priests known as tarmidas, who recited hymns and passages from the Ginza Rabba, the community’s sacred scripture.

The ceremonies, documented by Shafaq News, continued into the afternoon with animal sacrifices and offerings for the deceased, while many participants had visited cemeteries at dawn to pay their respects before heading to the riverbank.

Clergy from several Iraqi provinces also traveled to Baghdad, home to one of the country’s largest Mandaean communities, alongside Basra and Erbil.

Dehwa Hanina, or the Little Feast, is the community’s second major religious celebration after Dehwa Rabba, or the Great Feast, which marks the Mandaean New Year in July and commemorates the creation of the material world in preparation for Adam and Eve.

The Mandaeans follow an ancient monotheistic faith that reveres Prophet Yahya ibn Zakariya (John the Baptist). Their principal scripture, the Ginza Rabba, or “Great Treasure,” contains teachings on creation, morality, and the soul’s journey after death.

Decades of insecurity and displacement have driven many Iraqi Mandaeans abroad, while others have moved from southern Iraq to Iraqi Kurdistan. Communities in Sweden, Germany, Australia, and the US continue to preserve their religious traditions.

Read more: Iraq's Mandaeans prepare for Little Feast celebrations