Navruz - A Celebration of Life. Public holidays in Uzbekistan
конецформыначалоформыNavruz - A Celebration of Life. Public
holidays in Uzbekistan
Navruz (also called Noruz, Nowruz, and Nawruz), the spring
"New Year" holiday, has been celebrated for more than 2,500 years,
perhaps for as long as 5,000 years. Originating in Persia and long associated
with the ancient Zoroastrian religion, its name means "new day" in
Farsi because to ancient Persians it marked the first day of the new year. On
this day, Persian kings would have worn a crown with images of the annual solar
cycle on their heads, participated in a divine mass in the Temple of Fire, and
distributed generous gifts to citizens.
Today, Navruz is celebrated each year on March 21, when the
sun enters the sign of Aries on the astrological calendar. In the northern
hemisphere, this date frequently coincides with the spring equinox, the day on
which the number of daylight hours equals the number of nighttime hours. On our
modern Gregorian calendar, the spring equinox varies from March 19 to March 21.
Although their calendars were different, ancient peoples followed the course of
the sun and moon closely, and knew that the seasons began to change on this
date. For them, it was if the powers of light had overcome the powers of
darkness, allowing the earth to awaken and life to be rekindled. Many of us
have similar feelings today, even though we understand the more scientific
explanation: that the northern hemisphere begins to tilt toward the sun at this
date, which results in longer and warmer days.
As Turks and other nomadic peoples moved into Central Asia
and areas around Persia, they adopted the celebration of Navruz. Just as the
Saxon holiday of Ostara was embraced by Christianity and become Easter in the
West, Navruz traditions, which had taken strong roots in life of Eurasian
farmers and townspeople, survived the coming of Islam to the area 1,400 years
ago. Today, Navrus is celebrated widely and colorfully in Iran, Azerbaijan,
Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and
the western provinces of China, as well as by Kurds in Turkey, Syria and Iraq
and by Tatars and Bashkirs in southern Russia. In the last ten years, the
Central Asian republics have recognized Navruz as an official holiday. Its
celebration is marked by concerts in parks and squares, trade fairs and
national horseracing competitions.
Celebrations of spring are a natural outgrowth of the earth
fs rhythms. In most of the Silk Road countries, Navruz announces the joyful
awakening of nature after winter and the beginning of the agricultural cycle of
cultivating, planting, and harvesting. Navruz traditions are similar throughout
the region, and have varied little over the centuries, except to embrace Islam.
Unlike the western New Year traditions, Navruz is celebrated in daytime hours
within the family circle. March 21 is the main celebration, but for the next 13
days it is common practice to visit friends and relatives, buy and plant
seedings of fruit trees and have cheerful gatherings in the fresh spring air.
Traditionally, it is also a time to "clean up" one's life. People
tidy up their homes, wash rugs and draperies, decorate with flowers, and buy
new clothes that they will use for visiting. On the day of Navruz, all
housekeeping - including the preparation of the meal, careful cleaning of the
home and the arrangement of blossoming branches from apricot, peach, almond or
pomegranate trees - must be completed before rising of the morning star.
Children enjoy the holiday because they often get presents of money, as well as
blessings, from their elders.
The activities of the first 13 days of the new year are
considered harbingers of the year to come. For this reason, it is traditional
to end quarrels, forgive debts and overlook enmity and insults. It is a time
for reconciliation, when forgiveness and cheerfulness are the dominant
sentiments. As with the celebration of the Chinese New Year, there are
traditions associated with the first visitor to the house during Navruz. To
ensure good luck for the coming year, this person should have a "happy
foot"; he or she should be kind, gentle, witty, pious and have a good
reputation.
In Iran and small communities of Kurdistan, Iran and
Northern India, where Zoroastrism has retained a strong influence amongst the
populace, traditions require that the Navruz celebratory table contain specific
elements. First, there must be a mirror, which reflects the past and shows the
future so that people can make reasonable plans. Next, there must be candles.
The flames hark back to the sacred nature of fire in the Zoroastrian religion,
and personify the light and energy of a righteous life. The table must also
contain an incense-burner for aromas and a water-filled vessel in which a live
fish is placed to symbolize a happy life full of activity and movement. Most
tables also include coins, fruit and a copy of a sacred book, such as the
Koran. Various types of food and plants must be on the table, including seven
dishes that begin with the Farsi letter "S" and seven dishes that
begin with the letter "sh." These include vinegar, sumac berries,
garlic, sprouted wheat, apples, berries of sea-buckthorn and fresh herbs as
well as wine, sugar, syrup, honey, sweets, milk and rice.
In the western provinces of China, both Turkish and Chinese
people celebrate the holiday of Navruz by wearing bright cheerful clothes and
going to the temple with flowers and a small clay figure of a buffalo. A large
bamboo buffalo is constructed near the temple and covered with paper painted in
red, black, white, green and yellow, which symbolize the five elements of the
universe (fire, water, metal, wood and earth). Near the temple people break
clay figures down and burn the bamboo buffalo.
Central Asia has its own Navruz traditions. From ancient
times, the holiday was celebrated in agricultural oases with festivals,
bazaars, horseracing, and dog and cock fights. Today, Uzbeks still serve a
traditional meal of "sumalyak," which tastes like molasses-flavored
cream of wheat and is made from flour and sprouted wheat grains. Sumalyak is
cooked slowly on wood fire, sometimes with addition of spices. Sprouted grain
is the symbol of life, heat, abundance and health.
On March 21, Kazakh and Kyrgyz households fumigate their
homes with smoke from the buring of archa twigs (a coniferous tree of Central
Asian that grows mainly in mountainous areas). This smoke is said to make
malicious spirits flee. The main holiday dishes for Turkic Central Asians are
pilaf, shurpa, boiled mutton and kok-samsa pies filled with spring greens and
the young sprouts of steppe grasses. According to tradition, people try to make
the celebratory table (dastarkhan) as rich as possible with various dishes and
sweets. Everyone at the table should be full and happy to ensure that the
coming year will be safe and the crop will be plentiful. The holiday is
accompanied by competitions of national singers and storytellers, single
combats of horsemen and fights of strong men.
Tadjiks, whose ethnic roots are more Persian than Turkic,
have slightly different traditions. In a Tadjik household, the owner of a house
or his elder sons must prepare fried shish kebab and a sweet pilaf made of rice
and other cereals. These dishes symbolize the wish for the coming year to be as
"sweet" and happy.
Some mountain settlements have a special custom. Before the
holiday, young men will try to secretly clear out the cattle shed of a
prosperous man with a marriageable daughter. If they succeed, the owner must
treat them generously; however, if they fail, they must treat the owner. In
Afghanistan, Navruz is called "Ruz-e-Dekhkan," the Day of the Peasant,
or "Ruz-e-Nekholshoni" the Day of Planting Trees. Before going to
their fields, farmers arrange parades with songs and dancing, and traditional
instruments. The horns and necks of oxen that will be used for the first
plowing of spring fields are sometimes rubbed with aromatic oil.
In southern Russia, Bashkirs probably adopted the
celebration of Navruz from Persian tribes that once lived in the Ural Valley.
The weather in these territories is not yet springlike in late March, so the
holiday is somewhat different than in other regions. First, young men in a
community collect products for the making of a common meal and embroidered
"prizes" for the winners of running, dancing and singing competitions
that will be held. On the day of Navruz, ceremonies are performed to cajole
natural forces and spirits of ancestors into assuring a successful new year. In
addition to the common meal, each family cooks a celebratory dish from
buckwheat groats and sweets.
Throughout the world, many other cultures have long celebrated
the coming of the spring equinox. In Egypt, both Moslems and Christians
celebrate the coming of spring on the Monday after Coptic Easter. This holiday,
called Sham el Nessim, is thought to have its roots in ancient Egypt, when it
was celebrated at the spring equinox just like Navruz. Ancient Slavs, the
Japanese and many Native American tribes also have historical holidays that
were tied to the spring solstice. The longevity of Navruz and other spring
celebrations indicates the significance we still attach to the beginning of a
new agricultural year and the triumph of life and warmth over the long cold
winter. So, wherever you are next March 21, celebrate life!