The Festival of Nowruz

Nowruz is the Iranian New Year. In the Zoroastrian religion which has been rooted from Iran, there are 2 subsets Iranis and Parsees. In India, both of these follow almost similar practices and traditions, yes but in Iran the Iranis follow some different traditions. Nowruz marks the beginning of the spring season, the moment the sun crosses the equator is the mark of the New Year. This year it was on Sunday 20th March at 07:30 p.m. as per the gulf time.

In Iran the celebrations are grand as it is one of their main festival, they set up tables with variety of items, they have a bonfire rituals and also burst firecrackers. In India it is a little different, we only do the table ritual part, that too it is done majorly by the Indian Iranis. We visit each other's home to pay respect for the table ritual and have family gatherings.

Yesterday it was a working day so during the day time we were busy with our work, and then later in the evening one of our Irani couple friends had invited us for dinner at their home. It was like a community gathering since they had invited many other Zoroastrian families also. Every year the family does this, but due to covid since last 2 years it was not. So finally we get to celebrate the day in a traditional manner after 3 years.

With Hubby and Son. I like to wear a Saree on traditional occasions, so yesterday was Saree day for me. This Saree is a gift from my late mother in law, when I wore it, brought some past memories with her.

This is the traditional set up of the table. This is a grand one, not everyone does it in this style, some set up very small ones also.

The key ingrdients required to set up the table are

• Sabzeh- A Wheat plant or barley sprouts growing in a dish – this represents rebirth, the new beginnings.
• Sib- Apples- a symbol of health and beauty.
• Serekh- Vinegar- representing patience.
• Samanu- A sweet pudding made from wheat germ- it represents power and strength.
• Seer- Garlic- represents medicine and health.
• Sekeh- Coins - for Wealth and Prosperity
• Somagh- A Berry plant representing arrival of Spring. Many people replace them with normal flowers as this is not available in all the regions.

Besides these a lot of other items are also kept, which are optional like a mirror, eggs, wine, nuts, bowl of gold fish and light candles.

This is one of the simpler table setup

We had dinner at our friend's place and it was good catching up with the community people and friends. A pleasant way to spend the Nowruz.

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