Nowruz, Iranian New Year Festival

Nowruz, Iranian New Year Festival

The word Nowruz is a combination of two Persian words: now—meaning "new"—and ruz—meaning "day". It is the day of the vernal equinox, and marks the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere and is the first day of the first month of spring (Farvardin) in Iranian solar calendar. Nowruz is considered the most important holiday in Iran that usually occurs on March 21. Nowruz begins at the exact day, hour and minute of the spring equinox because the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year. This exact second is called "Saal Tahvil" and families get together to observe the ceremony.

The celebration has its roots in ancient Iran so in Iranian mythology there are various foundation myths for Nowruz. It is part of Zoroastrianism, a Persian religion that predates Christianity and Islam to the first millennium BC.

The resumption of the spring was believed to have great spiritual significance, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil and joy over sorrow. According to Zoroastrian tradition, the Spirit of Noon, known as Rapithwina, who was considered to be driven underground by the Spirit of Winter during the cold months, was welcomed back with celebrations at noon on the day of Nowruz. So Nowruz is a holy day for Zoroastrians while a secular holiday for other celebrants, people of several different faiths that enjoy it.

Although having Iranian and religious Zoroastrian origins and known as the Persian New Year, it is celebrated worldwide by various ethno-linguistic communities. It has been celebrated for at least 3,000 years in most of Asia, the Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin, the Balkans, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and of course by Iranians worldwide.

In 2009 Nowruz was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in recognition of the importance of this ancient rite. Moreover, in 2010, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 March as the International Nowruz Day.

Nowruz Traditions in Iran

Nowruz is Iran’s national New Year festivity that includes four official public holidays but celebrated for two weeks. These two weeks focus on seeing relatives and friends, picnicking, travelling, feasting, eating traditional food, and exchanging gifts. A wide range of traditions such as cultural performances also take place. Families and within communities share a symbolic meal, often consisting of cooked rice with meat or fish and vegetables combined with many local ingredients.

Preparations for Nowruz celebrations in Iran begins weeks before the start of spring, including a tradition of deep house-cleaning ‘khaneh takani’, literary meaning ‘shaking the house,’ that is common in almost every household. The cleaning is also called “sweeping the dust”, all family members are involved in this ritual to wash the carpets and wipe the windows, old furniture is repaired or even replaced with a new one. It is widely believed that with all the dust ill fortune is also washed away and there would be a fresh start to the year. Shopping for new clothes, shoes, fresh fruits, sweets and confectionaries, nuts, flowers and everything that goes on the Haft Seen Table is done during the weeks left.

Iranian welcome spring on the first day of Nowruz by gathering with their family members around a traditional ‘sofreh’, a cloth spread on the floor, or table setting. Iranian grow sabzeh (wheat, lentils, barley or mung bean) in a dish to put on the Haft-seen table, which is the focus of Nowruz observance. Then it joins to six other symbolic items starting with the Persian letter "seen" or S that makes seven, a sacred number in Zoroastrianism. They include: seeb (apples) - symbol of health and beauty, somaq (sumac) – patience, senjed (dried oleaster) - wisdom and rebirth, samanu (wheat pudding) - strength/ justice, seer (garlic) - cleansing of body and environment, serkeh (vinegar) – patience/ age. The Haft-seen spread also includes other items such as a mirror, symbolizing reflection, candles for brightness, colored eggs for fertility and goldfish in a bowl representing life. There is usually also a book by the Persian poet Hafez (1315-1390), and holy Quran. This reflects Nowruz’s power to combine its ancient roots with more recent religious and cultural traditions.

Chaharshanbe Suri

Chaharshanbe Suri (Wednesday feast) is a fire jumping festival on the evening of last Tuesday of the year, so it is held within a week to the Nowruz day. There are Zoroastrian religious significance attached to it. People go out and make bush fires, jump over it chanting “Give me your beautiful red color and take back my sickly pallor!”. A specially made mixtures of nuts and dried fruit, called Ajil, salted hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds, prunes, apricots, and raisins is commonly nibbled on throughout the evening. This tasty treat is believed to make one kinder and compassionate.

Sizdeh Bedar

Sizdeh Bedar, “Getting Rid of Thirteen”, or Nature's Day takes place on the 13th day of the Persian New Year and marks the end of the Nowruz holiday. It is customary for Persians to celebrate it by spending the day outdoors picnicking. It is a springtime celebration whose activities symbolize rebirth and the link between humans and nature. Throwing the greenery (Sabze) grown for Haft-Seen table into a running water is a ritual performed at the end of the picnic.

Tourists need to take into account the crowd in chaharshanbe soori night, the fireworks, crowded bazars because of the shopping for the New Year, the exact time for the New Year and also Sizdeh Bedar picnicking. Many locals will be traveling, so it is a high travel season and you may need to organize your accommodation and transportation beforehand, sites or museums are not closed but very busy.