Celebrating ‘Nowruz’ for its cultural and seasonal significance
By: Mohd Amin Mir
Navroz is a festival of new beginnings and marks the victory of light over darkness. It is the Persian or Iranian New year celebrated by people of different ethnicities worldwide. It is celebrated twice a year in India according to Shahenshahi and Iranian calendars.
The word Nowruz is a combination of two words- Now and Roz- meaning ‘new’ and ‘day’. This festival is celebrated on the spring equinox (vernal equinox) as per Iranian Solar Hijri calendar on or around March 21st. Navroj or Nowruz is considered a holy day for Baha’is, Zoroastrians and some Muslim communities around the world for whom it is a religious festival while it is observed in countries like India, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan which are along the ancient silk route for seasonal reasons as well.
Nowruz is a Farsi word which means ‘new day’, and marks the beginning of the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere. The Parsi new year is celebrated around 19th – 21st March on the vernal equinox every year. Navroj 2024 will be celebrated on Wednesday, 20th March at the exact moment of the vernal equinox in Tehran, Iran. UN acknowledges 21st March as the International Nowruz day to emphasise its cultural significance and global acceptance.
Nowruz will be observed in India on two different dates due to following different calendars. The first date is 20th March 2024 which aligns with the global observance of spring equinox according to the Solar Hijri calendar. The second date is 15th of August 2024 which follows the Shahenshahi calendar. Leap years are not calculated in the Shahenshahi calendar that is why it is a unique tradition of the Indian Parsi communities to celebrate this festival two times in a year.
History and Significance of Navroz
The roots of Nowruz can be found in one of the ancient religions of the world, Zoroastrianism in old Persia. The festival has been celebrated here for approx 3000 years. It is believed that in this time the physical rejuvenation occurs and spirits get renewed. The written record of this festival was first observed in Persian texts of the first century CE. It was part of Parthian Empire under the Arsacid Dynasty when the first description about Navroj was found.
It is said that when spring comes after harsh winter it is a victory of good over evil. The time of Navroj is also associated with the life of a Persian mythological king, Jamshid as is mentioned in a book called Shah-Nameh (book of Kings) written by poet Ferdowsi. It is said that the king created a throne with jewels and that throne rose in the sky and that day was declared as the nowruz.
It is observed that Nowruz is celebrated in the regions like South Asia, Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Black Sea Basin by 3000 million people globally. Navroj symbolises the beginning of spring and renewal of nature. The festival emphasises on solidarity, religious tolerance, brotherhood and universal peace. Festival aims to bring people together and increase harmony between them.
In 2010 the UN officially acknowledged Nowruz as a symbol of global unity and cultural exchange. Most people associate Nowruz with Iran or Shia Muslim community but in Kashmir, Nowruz is truly a secular festival and it is marked by Kashmir’s all religious communities in one form or the other. The festival of Nowruz traditionally falls around March 21 on the day of vernal equinox that marks the beginning of spring in Northern hemisphere.
In Kashmir valley, the famous almond blossom festival at Badam Wari on the foothills of Hari Parbat in Srinagar city has become the symbol of the onset of spring as well as Jashn-e-Bahar – Nowruz festival in recent times. Contrary to what many people believe, Nowruz is not a Muslim festival but has roots in ancient Zoroastrian and Vedic culture of ancient Persians and Vedic Aryans. The Parsi community of Gujarat and Maharashtra continues to celebrate Nowruz till this day as part of thousands of years old Parsi Zoroastrian cultural heritage
While Kashmir remains among few places in South Asia with a recorded history as exhibited brilliantly in the Sanskrit language epic work of “Rajtarangini”, written by Kashmiri Pandit writer, Kalhana, there are many aspects of Kashmiri culture that make Kashmir a far more complex, mysterious and interesting places and the celebration of the spring festival of Persian new year Nowruz is one of them.
Most people associate Nowruz with Iran or Shia Muslim community but in Kashmir, Nowruz is truly a secular festival and it is marked by Kashmir’s all religious communities in one form or the other.
The festival of Nowruz traditionally falls around March 21 on the day of vernal equinox that marks the beginning of spring in Northern hemisphere. In Kashmir valley, the famous almond blossom festival at Badam Wari on the foothills of Hari Parbat in Srinagar city has become the symbol of the onset of spring as well as Jashn-e-Bahar – Nowruz festival in recent times.
Contrary to what many people believe, Nowruz is not a Muslim festival but has roots in ancient Zoroastrian and Rig Vedic culture of ancient Persians and Vedic Aryans. The Parsi community of Gujarat and Maharashtra continues to celebrate Nowruz till this day as part of thousands of years old Parsi Zoroastrian cultural heritage.
Within Kashmir valley, the Kashmiri Hindu Pandit community marks the Nowruz as “Navreh”, both of which literally mean the same thing – “New Day”. The Kashmiri Hindu Pandits celebrate Navreh in exactly the same manner as Parsi Zoroastrians and Iranian Shias by symbolic display of seven or more items displayed as a symbol of fortune and thanks giving called “Haft Seen” in Iran and “Thal Bharun” in Kashmir. The difference between Iranian “Haft Seen” and Kashmiri Pandit “Thal Bharun” is that while in Iran, items are displayed on a table, among Kashmiri Hindu Pandits, the items are displayed in a platter called ‘Thal” in Koshur language.
The composition of seven or more items displayed varies according to local customs but some common items include coin, pen, grain, mirror, holy book etc., each having a significance and meaning of its own. Kashmiri Pandits attribute the celebration of “Thal Bharun” and Navreh to the Rig Vedic origin of Kashmiri Hindu Shaivite community.
Interestingly, Kashmiri Pandits are the only Hindu community that celebrates this Persian Iranian festival of Nowruz, which many anthropologists and historians allude to presence of Zoroastrian or a modified form of Zoroastrian faith in Kashmir valley, often called “Avestan” or Eastern Persian culture that was spread over present day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pashtun parts of Northern Pakistan and Gilt Baltistan. The surviving traces of Nowruz means that ancient Kashmir was also part of this extended Eastern Persian cultural realm.
In Iran, the festival of Nowruz, which was main festival of ancient Zoroastrian rulers continued to be celebrated by ordinary people as well as royalty even after the advent of Islam. While many Zoroastrian festival faded away from Iran, the Persian New Year festival of Nowruz continued its uninterrupted patronage by the Iranian Muslim royalty and ordinary Iranian people.
The festival of Nowruz is widely celebrated by Shia communities all over the world but it is not restricted to any one particular Islamic sect. The festival is also the most important secular cultural celebrations among Sunni Muslim communities of Central Asian nations like Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, where it is marked by preparation of special feasts and days of widescale music and dance by ordinary people as well as that organized on grand scale by government on national level that includes parades. Similarly, the Pashtun Sunni Muslim community of Afghanistan and Pakistan also celebrates this festival by feasting, dancing and singing.
The festival is also celebrated by Chinese Turkic Uyghur Sunni Muslim community from Xinjiang (East Turkestan) province and Kurdish Sunni Muslim community in Iraq and Turkey, where it’s widescale celebrations has been revived by ethnic Kurds of younger generation to take pride in their glorious historic cultural legacy.
Even in Kashmir valley the Muslim community, especially Kashmir valley’s Shia community celebrates Nowruz on a big scale by preparing special meals of fish and lotus stem (Nadru), wearing new clothes, frequenting Kashmir’s famed gardens, parks and taking family tours on shikaras and most importantly planting new trees. It is a way of celebrating man’s ties with nature and thanking God and mother earth for its limitless bounty.
The festival because of its secular and pre-Islamic origin has come under attack from conservative and orthodox religious elements, who have declared the festival as un-Islamic, but most countries including Iran, Central Asian Sunni countries and Afghanistan has largely ignored these dictates and Muslim communities in these countries celebrate it widely almost on the scale of celebrating two Eids as part of paying tribute to their historic cultural legacy and heritage. Given the cultural significance of this festival across Central and South Asian nations, the UN also declared the marking of ‘International Nowruz Day” as a cultural legacy of entire humanity
In Kashmir valley, the significance of Nowruz or Navreh lies in the age old secular spirit of Kashmiriyat, where Hindu Shaivite and Sufi Islam as well as Shia and Sunni brotherhood all come together to welcome the advent of spring after months of harsh winter in a non-religious manner in the true spirit of one Koshurness that encompasses all religions and sects of Kashmir. It is a pity that the celebrations of this wonderful festival has scaled down in recent times due to political turmoil. It is high time that, we the people of Kashmir once again strive to revive this amazing secular festival that marks the celebrations of the beauty of Kashmir and the communal and sectarian harmony of Kashmiri people that is the real hallmark of Kashmiriyat.
Author is Incharge Record Room District Development Commissioner Office Anantnag.
Kashmir Images is an English language daily newspaper published from Srinagar (J&K), India. The newspaper is one of the largest circulated English dailies of Kashmir and its hard copies reach every nook and corner of Kashmir Valley besides Jammu and Ladakh region.
