Nawruz (redirected from Nowruz)

Nawruz (Naw roz; No Ruz; New Year)

Beginning about March 21 for 13 days

The first day of spring ( nawruz means "new day") celebrated by all religious groups in Iran and Afghanistan. In India, it is celebrated by the Parsis as Jamshed Navaroz. The holiday is pre-Islamic, a legacy of Zoroastrian Persia. It is also called Ras al-Am . In Afghanistan it is celebrated as Nauruz ; in Kashmir as Nav Roz ; and in Turkmenistan, it's Novrus Bairam . Nawruz is also celebrated in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan.
The origins of Nawruz are obscure, but it is generally thought to have been a pastoral festival marking the change from winter to summer. Legends have grown up around the holiday. In Afghanistan, where it is also Farmer's Day, an ugly old woman named Ajuzak is thought to roam around when Nawruz begins. If it rains on Nawruz, she is washing her hair and the spring plantings will thrive. The Achaemenid kings (559 b.c.e.-330 b.c.e.) are known to have celebrated Nawruz, probably with gift-giving. Farmers decorate their cows and come into the city for an annual agricultural fair with prizes. Betting on kite flying is a sport for later in the day.
A special event, jandah bala kardan ("raising of the standard"), is held on Nawruz at the tomb of Hazrat Ali in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. The jandah, or standard, is raised in the courtyard of the shrine, and stays there for 40 days. Thousands visit the shrine to touch the staff to gain merit, and the sick and crippled touch it hoping for cures. The standard comes down at a time when a distinct kind of red tulip blooms and then soon fades; at this time, people visit friends and wish each other long lives and many children.
Buzkashi, the national game of Afghanistan, is usually played on Nawruz, especially in Mazar-i-Sharif. Buzkashi means "goat-grabbing," and the object of the game is for a team of horse riders to grab the carcass of a goat placed in a pit, carry it around a goal post, and put it back in the pit. The game is supposed to have developed on the plains of Mongolia and Central Asia, sometimes using a prisoner-of-war instead of a goat; now a dead calf is usually used. It's a ferocious game occasionally producing fatalities; there are several hundred horsemen ( chapandaz ) on each team, and they gallop at breakneck speed, lashing at horses and each other with special buzkashi whips.
Special Afghan dishes on Nawruz are samanak, a dessert made of wheat and sugar, and haft-mewah ("seven fruits")—a compote of walnuts, almonds, pistachio nuts, red and green raisins, dried apricots, and a fruit called sanjet .
In Iran, Nawruz is an event lasting 13 days, during which people wear new clothes, give gifts, and visit friends and relatives. Banquet tables traditionally hold seven foods starting with the letter S. Plates with sprouting wheat symbolize fertility, as do eggs, which are colored. Other symbols on the table are a mirror, candlesticks, and a bowl of water with a green leaf in it. The 13th day after No Ruz is Sizdah-Bedar or "13th day out" and everyone picnics in the country or on rugs in city parks. The idea is to get out of their houses, taking any bad luck with them.
For the Baha'i, the day also marks the end of the 19-day fast, from March 2-20, when Baha'i abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset as a reminder that one's true nature is spiritual rather than material.
See also Ayyam-i-Ha

SOURCES:
BkFestHolWrld-1970, p. 7
BkHolWrld-1986, Mar 21
DictFolkMyth-1984, p. 869
EncyEaster-2002, p. 418
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 218
HolSymbols-2009, p. 623

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Nawruz (Kazakhstan)

Around March 21

The people of Kazakhstan celebrate Nawruz around the time of the Vernal Equinox. This holiday, rendered Nauryz in Kazakhstan, celebrates the start of the new year and is the most festive of all the nation's holidays. Indeed Kazakhs sometimes call it Ulys Kuni, meaning "the first day of the new year," or Ulystyn uly kuni, "the great day of the people."
Special activities take place to commemorate the occasion, including horse races, games, and all kinds of merrymaking. People dress in their best clothing, prepare large and tasty meals, exchange well-wishes and congratulations, and visit friends and family. Since the activities that take place on Nauryz are thought to foretell one's fortune for the year, people try to include an abundance of food and other good things in their celebrations.
The main meal takes place around noon, and is introduced and concluded by the mullah's recitation of, a prayer honoring the ancestors. At the end of the feast, the oldest male blesses all those present so that they may prosper in the year to come. The number seven is considered a lucky number for this festival. It represents the seven days of the week. In the course of the celebrations, elderly men will be presented with seven cups of a special festival beverage called nauryz-kozhe . The beverage is itself made from seven grades of seven different kinds of grain.

CONTACTS:
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Nations
866 United Nations Plz., Ste. 586
New York, NY 10017
212-230-1900; fax: 212-230-1172
www.un.int/kazakhstan

Celebrated in: Kazakhstan