yesterday my friend christa and i visited the shrine of bayazid bostami. bostami was a medieval persian sufi, and locals believe that he is buried at this site. along with a tomb and mosque, there a pool that is home to a number of very large black, soft shell turtles, known as "bostami turtles."
tradition holds that the turtles are the descendents of evil spirits, whom bostami turned into turtles and condemned to stay in the pool. visitors to the shrine feed the turtles bananas and chapati, which are sold by vendors in bags for 20 taka. the turtles are protected by a committee that overseas the shrine.
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