Location of Chiluchorchashma –Tajikistan, Khatlon region, NosirKhisrav district (formerly Beshkent district). 12km west of Shahrituz. Chiluchorchashma (“Fortyfour Springs”) is a place which is widely known in Tajikistan and in neighboring Uzbekistan, because from the foot of a small hill in the area which was previously a not desert (before irrigation works in the Soviet period), five large springs emerged from underground which, in turn, divide into 39 smaller ones.
The water from the springs flows together to form a channel 12–13m wide and full of fish. It is interesting to note that the fish do not swim downstream in the channel but stay within 8–900m of its beginnings.
Local people have a legend about the origin of the spring. When Caliph Ali (Hazrati Ali) stayed in this area preaching Islam, which was a new faith for the local population, the nearby Romit River dried up. Ali then cursed the river, calling it Kofarnihon, i.e. the “faithless river”.
After arriving at present-day ChiluchorChashma, Ali offered up a prayer to Allah asking for water, hit the ground at the foot of the nearby hill, and where he touched ground with his fingers, five of the purest springs welled up.
So, ChiluchorChashma is a place of pilgrimage. People visit the place to perform prayers, ablutions, sacrifices and to bathe in the springs. It is considered that the water of 17 of the springs is healing. Each of these reservoirs has its local name and medicinal designation:
