Lalish is a tiny mountain village in Kurdistan with a population of just 25. It is to the Yazidis what Mecca is to Muslims. Located 125km north-east of Erbil (the capital of Kurdistan, an autonomous region of northern Iraq), lies the hamlet-sized shrine complex of Lalish, the holiest site of Yazidism, an ancient religion with an estimated 700,000 followers worldwide. "Lalish is as sacred to the Yazidis as Mecca is to Muslims or Jerusalem is to the followers of Islam, Christianity and Judaism," said Luqman Mahmood, the director of visitor relations.

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230803-in-pictures-the-protectors-of-a-7000-year-old-faith

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