Nowruz, the Persian New Year

The Persian New year through Iranian Solar calendar is the first day of spring will begin on 21st March 2017.

“Nowruz literally “New Day” is the name of the Iranian New Year, also known as the Persian New Year, which is celebrated worldwide by the Iranian peoples, along with some other ethno-linguistic groups, as the beginning of the New Year.” (Wikipedia)

These days, Iranian families are busy preparing themselves for the new year. It means that they would enter in a new phase of their life, so they must renew themselves both in appearance and character. Nowadays many housewives are busy with cleaning home deeply. Washing the carpets and windows, throwing away or donating old things or dresses and shoes, for rich people coloring the house, buying new furniture and curtains.

It is very important for people specially children to wear a new dress and shoes in the new year. So from now the Bazar and Malls are full of people selecting the new wearings for themselves. In the next week the traffic jam will be heavy since people are trying their last effort to make a new face for their life in the new year.

The beginning of the year on the first day of spring is a symbol for a new life. Since the nature renew itself the human should be renewed too. So from old times, it has been advised that one should forget his or hatred toward other people and forgive each other by beginning the new year.

In Iran we experience the longest vacation of the year. Four days of the beginning of the month (Farvardin) and 13th day for celebrating a day for nature.

In the first day of Nowruz young people go to meet elders. Young people for the busy working time would not visit elders usually so Nowruz is the best time to go to their house and show respect to them. Elder people usually present a gift to yougesters and children.

There is a tradition putting new cashes between pages of Qoran. When guests go to their House to congradulate the new year the host will bring Qoran and open the page where cashes are laid so the guest would collect one cash as Eidi (gift of Nowruz).

On the time of beginning new year, it is important that everybody goes to his/her home and sit beside family to begin the new year.

The main part of Iranian new year is Haft-seen.

“Haft-Seen (Persian, the seven seen’s) is a tabletop (sofreh) arrangement of seven symbolic items traditionally displayed at Nowruz, the Persian new year. The haft-seen table includes seven items all starting with the “S” letter in the Persian alphabet.

The Haft-Seen items are:

1.Sabzeh(wheat, barley, mung bean or lentil sprouts) growing in a dish – symbolizing rebirth

2.Samanu(sweet pudding made from wheat germ) symbolizing affluence

3.Senjed(dried oleaster Wild Olive fruit) symbolizing love

4.Seer(garlic) symbolizing the medicine and health

5.Seeb(apple) symbolizing beauty

6.Somāq(sumac fruit) symbolizing (the color of) sunrise

7.Serkeh(vinegar) symbolizing old-age and patience

The following items may also appear on the Haft-Seen table as ornaments or for the sake of completeness. Although some of these items are Persian symbols, they are not the main part of the traditional Haft-Seen.

•The holy book Qoran

•Divan-e Hafez, a Persian poetry book

•a mirror

•a goldfish in a bowl represents life and the end of astral year-picas (Goldfish is originally a symbol of Chinese new year)

•a low brazier full of fire

•a lamp

•sprays of cypress or pine

•pomegranates

•painted eggs

•coins as a symbol of wealth

•candles for each member of the family

•a bowl of water

•wheat or bread”(wikipedia)

Now housewives are searching for a new style of Haft Seen for their house. They make their Haft Seen as beautiful as they can. At the moment of beginning new year family members sit beside Haft Seen and wait for the announcing of the moment of entering the new year usually marine military shooting 3 times into sky.

Then the flood of congratulatory messages are exchanged. People wish the best for their fiends and relatives by sending piece of poems from famous poets.

There are lots of customs and habits in Nowruz. Since Iran is a big country with variation of culture and nations there are lots of different and interesting customs of Nowruz happening in all over the country.

The first days of Nowruz the city is calm with less traffic jam and smiling faces. Even strangers are kind together while some mistakes in driving is happened. The positives rays of Nowruz gradually will be faded into serious days of starting to work after holiday. This is the time people think that every day should be Nowruz for them!

 

-Pooneh Nedai, Iran correspondent for The AsiaN