Nowrūz (Persian: نوروز, IPA: [nouˈɾuːz], "New Day", originally "New Light") is a traditional ancient Iranian festival which celebrates the start of the IranianNew Year. Nowruz is also widely referred to as the Persian New Year.
Nowruz is celebrated and observed by Iranian peoples and the related cultural continent and has spread in many other parts of the world, including parts ofCentral Asia, South Asia, Northwestern China, the Crimea and some ethnic groups in Albania, Bosnia, Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia.
Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the year in Iranian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. As well as being a Zoroastrian holiday and having significance amongst the Zoroastrian ancestors of modern Iranians, the same time is celebrated in the Indian sub-continent as the New Year. The moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year and Iranian families gather together to observe the rituals.
Originally being a Zoroastrian festival, and the holiest of them all, Nowruz is believed to have been invented by Zoroaster himself, although there is no clear date of origin. Since the Achaemenid era the official year has begun with the New Day when the Sun leaves the zodiac of Pisces and enters the zodiacal sign of Aries, signifying the Spring Equinox. The Jewish festival of Purim is probably adopted from the Persian New Year. It is also a holy day for Sufis,Ismailis, Alawites, Alevis, and adherents of the Bahá'í Faith.
The term Nowruz in writing, first appeared in Persian records in the second century AD, but it was also an important day during the time of the Achaemenids(c. 648-330 BC), where kings from different nations under the Persian empire used to bring gifts to the emperor also called King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Persia on Nowruz..
The UN's General Assembly in 2010 recognized the International Day of Nowruz, describing it a spring festival of Persian origin which has been celebrated for over 3,000 years. During the meeting of The Inter-governmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage of the United Nations, held between 28 September – 2 October 2009 in Abu Dhabi, Nowrūz was officially registered on the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Etymology
The term Nowruz is Persian and is a compound-word consists of:
1- now (Old Persian nava) has the following cognates, in English new, in Latin novus, German neu, Sanskrit nava, etc. The Persian pronunciation differs in the many dialects of the language: while theeastern dialects have preserved the original diphtong (IPA: [næuˈɾoːz]), the western dialects usually pronounce it with a different diphthong (IPA: [nouˈɾuːz]), and some colloquial variants (such as theTehrani accent) pronounce it with a monophtong (IPA: [noˈɾuːz]).
2-rōz (also with various pronuciations, such as rūz, rozh, or roj) means "day" in Middle- and Modern Persian, as well as related languages, such as Kurdish. The original meaning of the word, however, was "light". The term is derived from Avestan *rowch-, itself derived from Proto-Indo-European *leuk- (l <-> r and k <-> ch sound changes are common in Indo-European languages), and is related to Sanskrit ruci, Latin lux and, in fact, English light.
Haft Sīn
Haft Sīn (هفت سین) or the seven 'S's is a major tradition of Nowruz. The haft sin table includes seven specific items starting with the letter 'S' or Sīn (س) in the Persian alphabet. The items symbolically correspond to seven creations and holy immortals called Amesha Sepanta protecting them. The seven elements of Life, namely Fire, Earth, Water, Air, Plants, Animals, and Human, are represented. They also have Astrological correlations to five planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Sun and Moon. With the advent of Islam the word Amesha Sepanta shortened to and eventually was remembered by just the letter S and the number 7. The Haft Sin has evolved over time, but has kept its symbolism. Traditionally, families attempt to set as beautiful a Haft Sīn table as they can, as it is not only of traditional and spiritual value, but also noticed by visitors during Nowruzi visitations and is a reflection of their good taste.
The Haft Sīn items are:
- sabzeh -wheat , barley or lentil sprouts growing in a dish - symbolizing rebirth
- samanu - a sweet pudding made from wheat germ - symbolizing affluence
- senjed - the dried fruit of the oleaster tree - symbolizing love
- sīr - garlic - symbolizing medicine
- sīb - apples - symbolizing beauty and health
- somaq - sumac berries - symbolizing (the color of) sunrise
- serkeh - vinegar - symbolizing age and patience
Other items on the table may include:
- Sonbol - Hyacinth (plant)
- Sekkeh -coin - representative of wealth
- traditional Iranian pastries such as baghlava,toot , naan-nokhodchi
- Aajeel - dried nuts, berries and raisins
- lit candles (enlightenment and happiness)
- a mirror (symbolizing cleanness and honesty)
- decorated eggs, sometimes one for each member of the family (fertility)
- a bowl of water with goldfish (life within life, and the sign of pisces which the sun is leaving). As an essential object of the Nowruz table, this goldfish is also "very ancient and meaningful" and with Zoroastrian connection.
- rosewater, believed to have magical cleansing powers
- the national colours, for a patriotic touch
- a holy book (e.g., the avesta, qur'an, bible, torah, or kitab-i-aqdas) and/or a poetry book (almost always either the shahnama or the Divan of hafez)
