BAGHDAD — City officials plan to renovate the Al-Khidr shrine in Baghdad now that UNESCO has added the Khidr Elias feast to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list. The Council of Baghdad is allocating funds from the 2017 budget to develop the shrine, according to Adel al-Saidi, a member of the council's Services Committee.

The project will include restoring and expanding the shrine, establishing service facilities and paving the road leading up to the shrine, in addition to designing and installing a garden there. "A national day for the festival will also be set for all Iraqis of different beliefs to celebrate it,” Saidi said.

Al-Khidr was a prophet, sometimes known as, or associated with, Elias/Elijah. Al-Khidr lived during the ninth century BC and was mentioned in the Quran and the Bible.

The Khidr Elias feast, a religious and social tradition in Iraq, is celebrated in February. The Iraqi Ministry of Culture had filed a request in February 2015 asking UNESCO to add the festival to the list. UNESCO did so Dec. 3, prompting a celebration of the long-awaited achievement. On Dec. 29, the Baghdad Literary Commission organized a boat trip on the Tigris River to Al-Khidr shrine, which is in the area between Baghdad's districts of al-Shawaka and Kadhimiya.