Nowruz

Nowruz is an annual festival marking the Persian New Year and the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Celebrated by more than three hundred million people worldwide, Nowruz has a long history dating back more than three millennia. Its observance is particularly common in the Middle East, the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin, Central Asia, and other parts of the world with a strong Persian cultural influence. While most celebrants regard it as a secular holiday, Nowruz is closely associated with the ancient Persian and modern Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism. Lasting nearly two weeks, the Nowruz festival is a lively celebration typically involving singing, dancing, poetry, food, and traditional sports. Because it coincides with the vernal equinox, which is when the sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes day and night, the festival usually begins on or around March 21 each year.

Background

The historic and cultural roots of Nowruz can be traced back to the practice of Zoroastrianism. Originating as an ancient Persian religion as long as four thousand years ago and still practiced by as many as one hundred to two hundred thousand people today, Zoroastrianism is one of the world’s oldest active religions. It is also thought by experts to perhaps be the first monotheistic religion.

Zoroastrianism initially evolved from an ancient Indo-Iranian religion practiced by nomadic herding tribes in Iran and northern India. Historians believe that it first became popular in Central Asia before later spreading southward to Iran. Zoroastrianism was at its height during the Achaemenid (550–330 BCE), Parthian (247 BCE–224 CE), and Sasanian (224–651 CE) empires. It subsequently fell from popularity after the Arab invasion of the Sasanian Empire, after which it persisted mainly in Iran’s rural areas until around the thirteenth century.

At that point, the remaining practicing Zoroastrians retreated into the remote desert towns of Kerman and Yazd. Following the Arab invasion, some Zoroastrians also relocated to India, where they came to be known as the Parsis. From that time, Zoroastrians continued migrating to other places around the world, with some of the largest existing Zoroastrian diaspora communities found in Great Britain, the United States, and Australia.

Zoroastrians believe that Ahura Mazda, their supreme deity, revealed their religion to a priest named Zoroaster. Because he is regarded as the founder of the religion, Zoroastrianism is named after Zoroaster himself. The primary theological concepts in Zoroastrianism are the dichotomy between good and evil and the belief that Ahura Mazda created the world so that good could ultimately conquer evil. Zoroastrians also believe in an afterlife in which a person’s fate is determined by the choices they make in life. Finally, Zoroastrians believe that there will one day be a final defeat of evil, after which the world will be restored to a state of perfection.

Symbols play a major part in Zoroastrianism. Two of the most important symbols in Zoroastrianism are fire and water. Fire represents light and warmth and is said to have purifying powers. Water is also a symbol of purity. Both play a key role in the celebration of Nowruz.

Overview

Nowruz is an annual festival held at the astronomical vernal equinox to celebrate both the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year. The festival, which takes place over thirteen days, provides those who observe it to reflect on the past year and establish their intentions for the coming year. Closely tied to Zoroastrianism, Nowruz is also a celebration of the return of spring, a joyous season of spiritual rebirth said to signify the victory of good over evil.

Nowruz is most often celebrated in countries where the influence of traditional Persian culture remains strongest. In addition to Iran, these countries include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Türkiye, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as in Kurdistan. It is also celebrated in other countries such Australia, Canada, Great Britain, and the United States, where minority Zoroastrian and other Persian-influenced cultural communities exist. Interestingly, India observes Nowruz on multiple dates because of the use of two differing calendars there.

Typical Nowruz practices vary from place to place but share commonalities. In many places, preparations for Nowruz begin days or weeks before the actual festival kicks off. Some of these preparations are symbolic in nature and involve fire or water. One particularly common practice involves jumping over fires, which is viewed as a way of purging bad experiences from the past year. Doing some spring-cleaning at home ahead of the festival is also common. Just before Nowruz begins, families and friends gather to exchange wishes and gifts.

One of the most important preparations for Nowruz is the setting of the traditional Haft-Seen table. Also known as “the table of seven things that start with the letter S,” the Haft-Seen table usually includes sirkeh (vinegar), sikkeh (coins), seer (garlic), seeb (apples), sabzeh (wheat), samanu (wheat pudding), and sumac (berries), all of which have special symbolic meanings. Some Haft-Seen tables might also include a mirror meant to symbolize the past year, candles for light and happiness, and painted eggs for fertility.

The first day of Nowruz is a day spent with family, sharing elaborate meals and giving gifts. Traditional foods shared at family meals include sabzi polo mahi, a dish of rice mixed with herbs and served with white fish; a thick green noodle soup called ash reshteh; a vegetable frittata known as kuku sabzi; and various pastries.

As the festival continues, many other traditional activities take place. Many Nowruz celebrations involve festive song and dance, like the popular Afghan song “Molla Mammad Jaan.” Special “Nowruzi poems” are written, published, and recited as well. Sports also play a key part in Nowruz celebrations in some regions. In Uzbekistan, wrestling, horse racing, and the game of Kopkari are favorite Nowruz traditions. Horse racing and other forms of horsemanship are highlights of Nowruz festivals in Kyrgyzstan, as is the horse-riding sport of Kashī in Afghanistan. In other places, street performances are a common sight during Nowruz. One example takes place in Iran, where a type of tightrope walking called Band Bāzī is a popular Nowruz activity.

The celebration of Nowruz ends with the Sizdeh Bedar, an event during which people take the sabzeh—wheat, mung bean, or lentil sprouts—they have grown in a dish and throw it into a river or field as a symbolic gesture of giving back to nature.

With their emphasis on food and dance, Nowruz festivities are at times complicated by the observance of Ramadan, a movable monthlong period of fasting and abstinence, in Muslim-majority countries when the two holidays happen to coincide.

Nowruz has gained increasing recognition in the twenty-first century. In 2009 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) included Nowruz among the world's intangible cultural heritage, and the United Nations later declared March 21 to be International Nowruz Day. Pop-culture representation grew as well, with Disney's Mickey Mouse bringing attention to it in 2023 and a Google Doodle drawing doing likewise in 2024.

Nowruz has at times taken on a political dimension. In the twentieth century, the officially atheist Soviet Union outlawed Nowruz celebrations in the satellite countries it controlled. Authorities in Iraq, Syria, and Türkiye also prohibited public Nowruz celebrations to quell dissent from separatist Kurds. In the 2020s, ordinary Iranians used mixed-gender Nowruz dances to protest government-imposed strictures, while the Taliban canceled official observances after it retook control of Afghanistan in 2021.

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