С Наврузом!
Navruz (also called Noruz, Nowruz, Nowrooz and Nawruz), the spring "New Year" holiday, has been celebrated for at least 2,500
years, and perhaps for as long as 5,000 years. Originating in Persia
and long associated with the ancient Zoroastrian religion , its name
means "new day" in Farsi because for ancient Persians it marked the
first day of the New Year.
On this day, Persian kings would have worn a crown with
images of the annual solar cycle on their heads, participated in the
divine mass in the Temple of Fire, and distributed generous gifts to
citizens.
Today, Navruz is celebrated each year on March 21 , when the
sun enters the sign of Aries on the astrological calendar. In the
northern hemisphere, this date frequently coincides with the spring
equinox, the day on which the number of daylight hours equals the number
of nighttime hours.
On the modern Gregorian calendar, the spring equinox varies
from March 19 to March 21. Although their calendars were different,
ancient peoples followed the course of the sun and moon closely, and
knew that the seasons began to change on this date.
As Turks and other nomadic peoples moved into Central Asia
and areas around Persia, they adopted the celebration of Navruz. Just as
the Saxon holiday of Ostara was embraced by Christianity and become
Easter in the West, Navruz traditions, which had grown strong roots in
the life of Eurasian farmers and townspeople, survived the coming of
Islam to the area 1.400 years ago.
Today, Navrus is celebrated widely and colorfully in Iran,
Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan,
Turkmenistan and the western provinces of China, as well as the Kurds
in Turkey, Syria and Iraq and the Tatars and Bashkirs in southern
Russia. In the last ten years, the Central Asian republics have
recognized Navruz as an official holiday. Its celebration is marked by
concerts in parks and squares, trade fairs and national horseracing
competitions.
Celebrations of spring are a natural outgrowth of the
Earth's rhythms. In most of the Silk Road countries, Navruz announces
the joyful awakening of nature after winter and the beginning of the
agricultural cycle of cultivating, planting, and harvesting.
March 21 is the main celebration, but for the next 13 days
it is common practice to visit friends and relatives, buy and plant
seedlings of fruit trees and have cheerful gatherings in the fresh
spring air.
Children enjoy the holiday because they often get presents of money, as well as blessings, from their elders.
The activities of the first 13 days of the New Year are
considered harbingers of the year to come. For this reason, it is
traditional to end quarrels, forgive debts and overlook enmity and
insults. It is a time for reconciliation, when forgiveness and
cheerfulness are the dominant sentiments.
As with the celebration of the Chinese New Year, there are
traditions associated with the first visitor to the house during Navruz.
To ensure good luck for the coming year, this person should have a
"happy foot"; he or she should be kind, gentle, witty, and pious and
have a good reputation.
Central Asia has its own Navruz traditions. From ancient
times, the holiday was celebrated in agricultural oases with festivals,
bazaars, horseracing, and dog and cock fights. Today, Uzbeks still serve
a traditional meal of "sumalyak", which tastes like molasses-flavored
cream of wheat and is made from flour and sprouted wheat grains.
Sumalyak is cooked slowly on a wood fire, sometimes with the addition of
spices. Sprouted grain is a symbol of life, heat, abundance and health.
The main holiday dishes for Turkic Central Asians are pilaf
(plov), shurpa, boiled mutton and kok-samsa pies filled with spring
greens and the young sprouts of steppe grasses. According to tradition,
people try to make the celebratory table (dastarkhan) as rich as
possible with various dishes and sweets. Everyone at the table should be
full and happy to ensure that the coming year will be safe and the crop
will be plentiful.
The holiday is accompanied by the competitions of national
singers and storytellers, competitions of horsemen and fights between
strong men.
Source: Silk road adventures
