Crowning the Shadow of God

Lyndon Johnson sent a covered vermeil punch bowl. Charles de Gaulle gave a porcelain and bronze table, Queen Elizabeth a gold-plated fruit basket, Indira Gandhi a silver miniature of New Delhi's minaret, Kutb Minar. From Russia's President Nikolai Podgorny came a 31-ft. porcelain vase, from Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba a solid gold olive tree and from Kuwait's Emir Sabah as Salem as Sabah two black Arabian stallions. President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines sent a packet of seeds of a new strain of rice that, if it finds the right soil, can increase yields tenfold. The gifts and the illustrious names of their senders were well suited to the occasion. Iran last week celebrated the biggest public event of its recent history: the coronation, on his 48th birthday, of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi.

It was a day that had been awaited for 26 years. When he took the throne in 1941, the Shah rejected a formal coronation until he had a male heir, and until Iran was no longer the desperately poor and backward country that he had inherited. His conditions have now been met. His third wife, Empress Farah, gave birth to Crown Prince Reza seven years ago. The Shah himself launched an ambitious development program that has brought industry and prosperity to his nation, and his land reform has turned 15 million peasants into independent farmers whose soil is now their own.

Bombed with Roses. To the Shah, the coronation was the symbol of the approval of his subjects and the stability of his house. There was no mistaking the fact that he had both. When, following the tradition of his predecessors, he placed his 3,755-jewel crown on his own head, millions of Iranians fell to their knees and shouted "Javid Shah [Long live the Shah]." When he broke tradition by also crowning Empress Farah, it was the ceremonial affirmation of her importance to his throne. The first woman ever to be crowned in Iran's 2,513-year history as a monarchy, she will become regent, if anything happens to the Shah, until Prince Reza comes of age. It is a possibility that the Shah, who has survived two assassination attempts, knows is very real. "My sole aim in life," he told his subjects at the end of the ceremony, "is the constant improvement of the welfare of Iran. In this task, I will withhold nothing, not even my life."

Iran withheld nothing in its clamorous celebration of the event, which was to last for seven days and seven nights. Planes bombed Teheran with 17,532 roses--one for every day of the Shah's life. Cannons pounded out a 101-gun salute. The Teheran Symphony Orchestra played a new coronation hymn ("You are the shadow of God"), and unofficial Poet Laureate Lutfali Suratgar read a three-minute ode ("The crown and throne of the King of Kings shone over the world as the sun and the moon shine in the firmament"). Mountaineers planted golden crowns atop the country's 48 highest peaks. Throughout Iran there were 97,000 coronation parties and 630 carnivals. A million dollars worth of fireworks rocketed through the night sky.

The celebrations were not confined to glitter, flowers and bang. In honor of the day, the government granted amnesty to 4,811 convicted criminals, dropped charges against 1,927 persons awaiting trial. It took out life-insurance policies for every Coronation Day baby born in the province of Gilan, the Empress' birthplace. And in ceremonies in villages and towns, it inaugurated over 6,700 new schools, hospitals and development projects. Most of them were rushed to completion to meet the Coronation Day deadline. Some were paid for by private citizens anxious to show their appreciation for what the Shah has done for Iran.

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