The shrine is one of the very important places in Karbala, as it is linked to Imam Al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his holy reappearance), especially during the rituals of the Ziyarat of the holy month of Sha'ban, which is one of the major specific Ziyarat in Karbala.
The head of Engineering Projects Department at the Al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine -The direct supervising authority on the implementation of this project- has explained to Al-Kafeel Network: "The idea of the expansion of the shrine of Imam Al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his holy reappearance) was born several years ago, in order to be able to receive the number of visitor coming to this sacred place as it is one of the very important places in Karbala, as it is linked to Imam Al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his holy reappearance), especially during the rituals of the Ziyarat of the holy month of Sha'ban, which is one of the major specific Ziyarat in Karbala. And following the completion of its maintenance and modernization, starting by the dome down to the shrine's halls and other facilities, the expansion idea was developped, as we can not make the expansion from its three sides, we have conducted the expansion on the side of the Hussayniya River, the western side, using concrete pillars, on which 14 bridges will be built without blocking the River course, on an area of 880 m2, 55 meters length and 16 meters width."
Adding: "The project was referred to the Iraqi company Ard Al-Quds, which have carrid out many of the Al-Abbas's (p) Holy Shrine projects such as the horizontal expansion project, the roofing, the basements for the visitors and Al-Kafeel garage, as well as other projects carried out in the Imam Al-Hussayn's (p) holy shrine."
It is to note that the shrine of Imam Al-Mahdi Is located on the left bank of Hussayniya River at the entrance of Karbala on th road leading to the shrine of Ja'far As-Sadeq (peace be upon him), which is a famous shrin with high dome. This shrine was named after the name of the awaited Imam Al-Mahdi (peace be upon him) as it i said that the Imam has prayed in this place. The shrine built in this place was totally demolished after the Sha'ban uprising, but it was rebuilt after a short period, and after the fall of the former regime, many maintenance works have been conducted and were concluded by the maintenance and modernization project under the supervision of the Engineering Project Department at the Al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine as it is linked administratively to it. The maintenance has concluded all the architectural sides of the shrine.
