Life & Culture

Nowruz, an ancient Persian new year festival is widely celebrated across Central Asia and Russia’s Muslim-majority republics of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan and Dagestan. It sometimes spelled as Navruz or Navroz, Ayatollah Khamenei extended his congratulations to the Iranian nation in a televised speech delivered on the occasion of Nowruz on Saturday, and praised their capabilities in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and sanctions.

Nowruz is the beginning of New Year in Iran that begins on the spring equinox, marking the first day of Farvardin, the first month of the Iranian solar calendar. It is celebrated worldwide by various ethno-linguistic groups, and falls on or around March 21 of the Gregorian calendar. The holiday is believed to date back more than 3,000 years, with roots in the Persian pre-Islamic religion Zoroastrianism.

Nowruz has been celebrated in different regions of the world by Millions of peoples, including the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Middle East.

The UNESCO cultural and scientific agency added Nowruz to its “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” list in 2009. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in a speech that the festival is about new beginnings.

As nature says goodbye to winter and marks the start of spring, many in Russia welcome the change in seasons by wearing their finest traditional clothes and cooking their best food. In Turkey, thousands of Kurdish people celebrated in Istanbul with music and dancing. India's Parsi community marked the day by going to Zoroastrian fire temples. In the Iraqi Kurdish town of Akra, peoples carried fire torches and set off fire works.

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