What is Nowruz? The Persian New Year explained in Details

 

More than 300 million people celebrate Nowruz every year.

When is it celebrated and how do you prepare for it?

            Nowruz is the public New Year party celebrated in Iran, Afghanistan, and the Kurdish locales of Iraq, Turkey and Syria, and all through Focal Asia. With attaches returning to somewhere around 3,000 years, Nowruz is perhaps of the most seasoned celebration that is as yet set apart by people.

The activities of the springtime celebration represent rebirth and the connection between humans and nature. Saadi, an Iranian poet from 1210 to 1291, wrote: Stir, the morning Nowruz breeze is giving the nursery blossoms."

While the fourteen day festivities focus on seeing family members, picnicking, voyaging, and eating conventional food, Nowruz itself - which is Farsi for New Day - is saturated with old legends and fiction, as well as customs and images.

When is Nowruz?

 It begins on the spring equinox, when day and night are equal and the sun crosses the equator.

           

Typically, this is between 19-21 March, contingent upon galactic estimations. It is scheduled to begin on March 20 just after 7 a.m. Tehran time this year.

Who celebrates Nowruz?

It is important for Zoroastrianism, a Persian religion that originates before Christianity and Islam to the principal thousand years BC. Its teachings are dualistic and monotheistic because Ahuramazda, the supreme deity, is the creator of all good. Fire and water are regarded as symbols of purity in Zoroastrianism.

It was established by Zoroaster, who was also known as Zarathustra. Zoroastrianism is based on his religious teachings.

His assortments of compositions are known as the Avesta.

When was Nowruz first celebrated?

Nowruz has been around for thousands of years, according to Persian poet and astronomer Omar Khayyam, who called it "the renewal of the world" in the 11th century.

Nowruz's exact age is unknown, but current estimates suggest that it dates back at least 3,000 years, when the Persian empire extended beyond the modern Iranian borders. The Avesta does not mention it.

This ancient ceremony has evolved and grown over time. As the celebrations spread among an estimated 300 million people and along established trade routes, they gradually absorbed more social, religious, and cultural influences.

It has survived centuries of conquest, from Arab invasions of the Persian world in the seventh and eighth centuries to Central Asian governments in former Soviet republics; from the Taliban in Afghanistan to secular authorities in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq who have attempted to curtail the cultural identity of Kurds.

How is Nowruz celebrated?

The appearance of Nowruz is reported by road artists, known as Haji Firooz, who wear bright outfits and play the tambourine.

Shoe polish or a mixture of fat and soot are used by the performers to darken their faces. Charcoal was commonly used in the past. They represent an ambiguous fictional character from Iranian folklore.

He is portrayed as a character who watches over the ancient Zoroastrians' eternal flame in some versions of the traditional tale; Another possibility is that, during the Sassanid era (224–651 AD), Haji Firooz was actually a black slave who entertained during the New Year. However, the more likely explanation is that he was one of the two million black slaves who were brought to Iran from Africa as part of the Indian Ocean slave trade in the 19th century.

The celebration of Chaharshanbeh Soori takes place on the evening of the last Tuesday before Nowruz, which falls on March 17 this year. During this time, people burn all that is negative about the previous year in a symbolic way and look forward to a fresh start.

What food do people eat for Nowruz?

On the first day of Nowruz, families gather at the home of their oldest family member.

The traditional New Year meal includes sabzi polo mahi (rice mixed with herbs and served with white fish); ash reshteh (a thick green soup with noodles, chickpeas and beans); and kuku sabzi (vegetable frittata).

Pastries include baghlava, toot (mulberry); naan-nokhodchi (chickpea cookies with pistachio); and ajeel (dried berries and raisins).

How long does Nowruz last?

Sizdeh Bedar, which means "to hit the road" or "getting rid of 13" (a symbol of bad luck), marks the end of the festivities 13 days after the New Year.

People picnic in open fields, plains, parks, and along riversides on Sizdeh Bedar, bringing the sabzeh they have meticulously grown with them. As a way of giving back to the natural world, they throw the sabzeh into the river or fields there.

Schools and offices usually re-open the following day.

What's the Iranian government view of Nowruz celebrations?

The Islamic Republic of Iran, which had initially attempted to equate the celebrations with paganism prior to the 1979 overthrow of 2,500 years of monarchy, was unable to eradicate the festivities, which are deeply ingrained in Iranian culture.

Hence in Iran, Nowruz has turned into an image of obstruction that is reflected in the normal hello Nowruz pirooz, and that signifies "Nowruz successful", or all the more generally, Eid shoma mubarak.