At all times, among the most joyful events in people's lives was the arrival of spring. Different peoples celebrated it in different ways. But everything is like a celebration of the revival of nature, the triumph of life, hopes for a generous harvest year.
In Farsi, Nowruz means “new day”. Nowruz, celebrated on March 21, is considered the beginning of a new year. As you know, March 21 is the day of the vernal equinox. The length of day and night is the same - 12 hours. On March 21, the Earth enters a period of worldwide astronomical equality. And also, on this day, the seasons change across the hemispheres: if autumn comes in the southern hemisphere, then spring comes in the northern hemisphere.
Many great people of the past associate the beginning of the celebration of Nowruz with the name of Shah Jamshid. Here is what Omar Khayyam wrote about this in his book “Navruz Name”:
As for the reason for the establishment of Nowruz, it is that, as is known, the Sun has two revolutions, one of which is such that every 365 days and a quarter of a day it returns in the first minutes of the constellation Aries at the same time of day when it came out, and every year this period decreases. When Jamshid realized this day, he called it Navruz and introduced the holiday into custom. Kings and other people followed him.
Yes, it's a spring holiday. Warm days are coming, nature awakens and begins to change its decoration. In Uzbekistan, people prepare very carefully for this holiday and celebrate for 15-20 days. In the days before Navruz, khashars are held everywhere in mahallas (neighborhoods) - people all over the world clean irrigation ditches, whitewash trees, dig up vegetable gardens.
Each mahalla has its own teahouse. And each mahalla celebrates Navruz in its teahouse. In the teahouse, delicious dishes are prepared in huge cauldrons. Residents of the mahalla, as well as residents of neighboring mahallas, are invited to the holiday. In addition, Navruz is celebrated in families. This is a big holiday! All the relatives gather in the house. There are only a few dishes that are prepared only for the Nowruz holiday. These are sumalak, halim (khalisa) and a special pilaf.
In general, Navruz is something more than just a holiday. As many centuries as Navruz is, I believe that the more fun and joyful it goes, the more generous nature will be to people. Therefore, on this day, the ritual songs of Navruz flow, people dance and have fun, rejoice at the arrival of spring, give each other gifts, help orphans and the poor.
