Nowruz (, , ) is New Year's Day on the Iranian calendars, including the currently used Solar Hijri calendar. Historically, it has been observed by Iranian peoples, but is now celebrated by many Persianate cultures worldwide. It is a festival based on the Northern Hemisphere spring equinox, and thus usually coincides with a date between 19 March and 22 March on the Gregorian calendar.
The roots of Nowruz lie in Zoroastrianism, and it has been celebrated by many peoples across West Asia, Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Black Sea Basin, the Balkans, and South Asia for over 3,000 years. In the modern era, while it is observed as a secular holiday by most celebrants, Nowruz remains a holy day for Zoroastrians, Baháʼís, and Ismaili Shia Muslims.
For the Northern Hemisphere, Nowruz marks the beginning of the spring season. Customs for the festival include various fire and water rituals, celebratory dances, gift exchanges, and poetry recitations, among others; these observances differ between the cultures of the diverse communities that celebrate it.
Overview The first day of the Iranian calendar falls on the March equinox, the first day of spring, around 21 March. In the 11th century AD the Iranian calendar was reformed by Omar Khayyam to fix the beginning of the calendar year, i.e., Nowruz, at the vernal equinox. Accordingly, the definition of Nowruz given by the Iranian astronomer Tusi was the following: "the first day of the official New Year [Nowruz] was always the day on which the sun entered Aries before noon." Nowruz is the first day of Farvardin, the first month of the Solar Hijri calendar, which is the official calendar in use in Iran, and formerly in Afghanistan.
The United Nations officially recognized the "International Day of Nowruz" with the adoption of Resolution 64/253 by the United Nations General Assembly in February 2010.
Etymology The word is a combination of the Persian words (, meaning 'new') and (, 'day'). Historically, the word was vocalized in Classical Persian as , and in Middle Persian as . The modern pronunciation varies among Persian dialects, with Dari and Tajiki (the eastern dialects) using the pronunciations and respectively, and Iranian Persian (the western dialect) using (in particular in the Tehrani accent: ). A variety of spellings for the word Nowruz exist in English-language usage, including Norooz, Novruz, Nowruz, Navruz, Nauruz and Newroz.Random House dictionary (unabridged), 2006 (according to Dictionary.reference.com ).Elien, Shadi, "Is the Persian New Year spelled Norouz, Nowruz, or Nauruz? ", The Georgia Straight, 17 March 2010.
Spring equinox calculation
Nowruz's timing is based on the vernal equinox of the Northern Hemisphere. In Iran, it is the first day of the new year in the Solar Hijri algorithmic calendar, which is based on precise astronomical observations, and the sophisticated intercalation system, which makes it more accurate than its European counterpart, the Gregorian calendar.
The day of Nowruz begins on the midnight in the interval between the two consecutive solar noons that includes the instant of the March equinox. (If the exact moment of astronomical equinox occurs before noon (Tehran time), that day is considered Nowruz and the first day of Farvardin. If the equinox occurs after noon, the following day is designated as Nowruz.) Hence, the first mid-day is on the last day of one calendar year, and the second mid-day is on the first day (Nowruz) of the next year.
Each 2820-year great grand cycle contains 2,137 normal years of 365 days and 683 leap years of 366 days, with the average year length over the great grand cycle 365.24219852. This average is just 0.00000026 (2.6×10−7) of a dayslightly more than 1/50 of a secondshorter than Newcomb's value for the mean tropical year of 365.24219878 days, but differs considerably more from the current average vernal equinox year of 365.242362 days, which means that the new year, intended to fall on the vernal equinox, would drift by half a day over the course of a cycle.
Chaharshanbe Suri
Chaharshanbe Suri () is a prelude to the New Year. In Iran, it is celebrated on the eve of the last Wednesday before Nowruz. It is usually celebrated in the evening by performing rituals such as jumping over bonfires and lighting off firecrackers and fireworks.
In Azerbaijan, where the preparation for Novruz usually begins a month earlier, the festival is held every Tuesday during four weeks before the holiday of Novruz. Each Tuesday, people celebrate the day of one of the four elementswater, fire, earth and wind. On the holiday eve, the graves of relatives are visited and tended.
Iranians sing the poetic line "my yellow is yours, your red is mine", which means "my weakness to you and your strength to me" () to the fire during the festival, asking the fire to take away ill-health and problems and replace them with warmth, health, and energy. Trail mix and berries are also served during the celebration.
Spoon banging (, ) is a tradition observed on the eve of Charshanbe Suri, similar to the Halloween custom of trick-or-treating. In Iran, people wear disguises and go door-to-door banging spoons against plates or bowls and receive packaged snacks. In Azerbaijan, children slip around to their neighbors' homes and apartments on the last Tuesday prior to Novruz, knock at the doors, and leave their caps or little basket on the thresholds, hiding nearby to wait for candies, pastries and nuts.
The ritual of jumping over fire has continued in Armenia in the feast of Trndez, which is a feast of purification in the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Catholic Church, celebrated forty days after Jesus's birth.Marshall, Bonnie C.: Tashjian, Virginia A, The Flower of Paradise and Other Armenian Tales Libraries Unlimited 2007 p. xxii
Sizdah Be-dar
In Iran, the Nowruz holidays last thirteen days. On the thirteenth day of the New Year, Iranians leave their houses to enjoy nature and picnic outdoors, as part of the Sizdah Bedar ceremony. The greenery grown for the Haft-sin setting is thrown away, usually into running water. It is also customary for young single people, especially young girls, to tie the leaves of the greenery before discarding it, expressing a wish to find a partner. Another custom associated with Sizdah Bedar is the playing of jokes and pranks, similar to April Fools' Day.
History Origin in Iranian religions
There exist various foundation myths for Nowruz in Iranian mythology.
The Shahnameh credits the foundation of Nowruz to the mythical Iranian King Jamshid, who saves mankind from a winter destined to kill every living creature. To defeat the killer winter, Jamshid constructed a throne studded with gems. He had demons raise him above the earth into the heavens; there he sat, shining like the Sun. The world's creatures gathered and scattered jewels around him and proclaimed that this was the New Day (Now Ruz). This was the first day of Farvardin, which is the first month of the Iranian calendar.
Although it is not clear whether Proto-Indo-Iranians celebrated a feast as the first day of the calendar, there are indications that Iranians may have observed the beginning of both autumn and spring, respectively related to the harvest and the sowing of seeds, for the celebration of the New Year. Mary Boyce and Frantz Grenet explain the traditions for seasonal festivals and comment: "It is possible that the splendor of the Babylonian festivities at this season, led the Iranians to develop their own spring festival into an established New Year feast, with the name Navasarda "New Year" (a name which, though first attested through Middle Persian derivatives, is attributed to the Achaemenian period)." Akitu was the Babylonian festivity held during the spring month of Nisan in which Nowruz falls. Since the communal observations of the ancient Iranians appear in general to have been seasonal ones and related to agriculture, "it is probable that they traditionally held festivals in both autumn and spring, to mark the major turning points of the natural year."A History of Zoroastrianism: Under the Achaemenians By Mary Boyce, Frantz Grenet. Brill, 1982 , pp. 3–4
Nowruz is partly rooted in the tradition of Iranian religions, such as Mithraism and Zoroastrianism. In Mithraism, festivals had a deep linkage with the Sun's light. The Iranian festivals such as Mehregan (autumnal equinox), Tirgan, and the eve of Chelle ye Zemestan (winter solstice) also had an origin in the Sun god (Mithra). Among other ideas, Zoroastrianism is the first monotheistic religion that emphasizes broad concepts such as the corresponding work of good and evil in the world, and the connection of humans to nature. Zoroastrian practices were dominant for much of the history of ancient Iran. In Zoroastrianism, the seven most important Zoroastrian festivals are the six Gahambar festivals and Nowruz, which occurs at the spring equinox. According to Mary Boyce, "It seems a reasonable surmise that Nowruz, the holiest of them all, with deep doctrinal significance, was founded by Zoroaster himself"; although there is no clear date of origin.Boyce, M. "Festivals. i. Zoroastrian" . Encyclopaedia Iranica. Between sunset on the day of the sixth Gahambar and sunrise of Nowruz, Hamaspathmaedaya (later known, in its extended form, as Frawardinegan; and today is known as Farvardigan) was celebrated. This and the Gahambars are the only festivals named in the surviving text of the Avesta.
The 10th-century scholar Biruni, in his work Kitab al-Tafhim li Awa'il Sina'at al-Tanjim, provides a description of the calendars of various nations. Besides the Iranian calendar, various festivals of Greeks, Jews, Arabs, Sabians, and other nations are mentioned in the book. In the section on the Iranian calendar, he mentions Nowruz, Sadeh, Tirgan, Mehrgan, the six Gahambars, Farvardigan, Bahmanja, Esfand Armaz and several other festivals. According to him, "It is the belief of the Iranians that Nowruz marks the first day when the universe started its motion."برگرفته از: "گنجينهي سخن"، تأليف دكتر ذبيح الله صفا، انتشارات اميركبير، 1370، جلد يكم، ص 292 The Persian historian Gardizi, in his work titled Zayn al-Akhbār, under the section of the Zoroastrians festivals, mentions Nowruz (among other festivals) and specifically points out that Zoroaster highly emphasized the celebration of Nowruz and Mehrgan.Gardīzī, Abu Saʿīd ʿAbd-al-Ḥayy b. Żaḥḥāk b. Maḥmūd in Encyclopedia Iranica by C. Edmund Bosworth Iranica on line Tārīkh-i Gardīzī / taʾlīf, Abū Saʻīd ʻAbd al-Ḥayy ibn Zahāk ibn Maḥmūd Gardīzī; bih taṣḥīḥ va taḥshiyah va taʻlīq, ʻAbd al-Ḥayy Ḥabībī. Tihrān : Dunyā-yi Kitāb, 1363 [1984 or 1985]. excerpt from p. 520:
Achaemenid period
Although the word Nowruz is not recorded in Achaemenid inscriptions, there is a detailed account by Xenophon of a Nowruz celebration taking place in Persepolis and the continuity of this festival in the Achaemenid tradition.Christopher Tuplin; Vincent Azoulay, Xenophon and His World: Papers from a Conference Held in Liverpool in July 1999, Published by Franz Steiner Verlag, 2004, , p. 148. Nowruz was an important day during the Achaemenid Empire (). Kings of the different Achaemenid nations would bring gifts to the King of Kings. The significance of the ceremony was such that King Cambyses II's appointment as the king of Babylon was legitimized only after his participation in the referred annual Achaemenid festival.
Celebrations at Persepolis It has been suggested that the famous Persepolis complex, or at least the palace of Apadana and the Hundred Columns Hall, were built for the specific purpose of celebrating a feast related to Nowruz.
Iranian and Jewish calendars