Pawa is an important and glorious city on the foothills of Shaho Mountain with a thousand-year history in the middle of the Hawraman region in the Kermashan Province. Pawa is located 112 kilometers from Kermashan City and 45 kilometers from the Shoushme border. Most of the people of this city speak in Hawrami Kurdish dialect and some speak in Jafi Kurdish dialect. The population of this city is 65 thousand people.
The historical monuments of this city include "Qori Qalata Cave, Pawa Atashga, and several other places" which indicate that Pawa possesses an important and ancient history. the history of these monuments traces back to two thousand years BC. During the history of Pawa, this city has been home to several prominent and elite literary and mystic characters.
One of Pawa Views
The name of Pawa, like other Hawraman cities and villages' names is debatable. There are several viewpoints about the word Pawa: the first one is that they say Pawa is a word of Hawrami origin and it means to stand on the foot. The second viewpoint indicates that Pawa is a word that originated from Avesta (Zoroastrian holy book) and it means Pureness; it is one of the Zoroastrian slogans and yet some others believe that the name origins come from the Sassanid Kings and one of them chose this word to be the name of this city.
Pawa is a beautiful and charming city with several important historical monuments that attract tourists. One of these monuments is the historical Atashga of Pawa which is the greatest Zoroastrian fireplace after "Azar Gosgasb's" fireplace; it is the second largest Zoroastrian fireplace.
Hajij Village
Due to the mild climate and its green forests, Pawa has become a tourist attraction. Not only Pawa city itself but also the villages around it possess spectacular natural views and sceneries and each of these villages is uniquely popular. Some of these villages include Shimsher, Hajij, Khanaqa, Nodsha, and the border villages like Hanagarmala, Berwas and Kemna. Daryan Dam, the tourist destination of Bayingan, and the stone cave of Hussein Kokan are among these tourist attractions.
Hussein Kokan Cave
Probably the name of Hussein Kokan is familiar to many. "Hussein Salim Osman" known as Hussein Kokan was born in Dirola village near Pawa and is a well-known character in Kurdistan. Hussein Kokan only had one leg but despite this, he began to carve a mountain for 20 years; this is why he is known as the second Farhad too. During the years he was occupied with carving the mountain, he began to plant trees around that area to make it even more beautiful. This cave made by Hussein Kokan has become an interesting tourist attraction. The income made by the touristic visits to this cave has been dedicated to building mosques and four mosques have been built with this money so far.
Hussein Kokan
Another touristic place in Pawa is Dalani. Dalani is a mountainous area with cold weather. This area reaches 3200 meters high which is among the highest mountains of Hawraman. There are several kinds of animals found in this area such as rabbits, foxes, deer, bears, eagles, etc. The peak of Dalani Heights is a great place for astronomy and geology studies and the experts of these fields use this area constantly for their research.
Mountaineers, bike riders, and tourists visit this mountainous area regularly for its climate and they stay there for days. The area of Dalani is very vast and its borders reach Tata Mountain and Sirvan River.
What has made Pawa more interesting is that the people of this city have had patriotic and nationalist feelings for Kurdistan historically. Many great national figures of Kurdistan come from this city. This glorious city has always participated in the national movements of Kurdistan and the people have always attempted to help Kurdistan liberation movements. Pawa City is the hometown of several hero Peshmerga forces who have dedicated their lives to Kurdistan. Even now, the people of Pawa show more and more patriotic and national feelings for Kurdistan.
