Traditions and Humanitarian Aspects of the Nawruz Festival

Introduction:

Nawruz, meaning “new day,” marks the transition to the new year and has been celebrated among Iranian peoples, including Tajiks, Fars, Afghans, Azeris, Kurds, Baluchis, and Lors since ancient times. This cultural heritage, with a focus on humanitarianism, cultural pluralism, and love for nature, is considered a precious legacy of Iranian civilization. It is celebrated by nations in the region with special artistic aspects under the pretext of the new year, spring season, and ancestral customs.

According to ancient Persian texts like Shahnameh and The History of Tabari, Jamshid (Avestan antecedent: Yama), the Pishdadian king, is introduced as the founder of the Nawruz festival. When Jamshid defeated the enemies of Greater Iran and brought prosperity, the people celebrated the new year, calling it Nawruz to express gratitude.

The Nawruz festival, with its message of peace and nature-friendliness, is considered the common cultural and civilization ritual of countries like Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, and Turkey, among others.

Pluralism of Human Rights in the Nawruz Ritual:

Human rights and humanitarian values are important issues in human society. The discourse of human rights is based on respect for cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and racial differences, which are part of the inseparable essence of human life. The Nawruz festival is held based on multi-national, multi-cultural, and multi-religious values, fostering a pluralistic atmosphere and supporting the dialogue of cultures and arts. These characteristics of the Nawruz festival reflect the universal approach of human rights and its pluralist philosophy.

Humanitarian Arts in the Nawruz Festival:

The arts of Nawruz, while tending to cultivate humanitarian values, find expression widely implemented with aesthetic effects in the days before and after Nawroz. Women and men play special roles in celebrating the beautiful customs of this festival, which is a symbol of the art-loving nature between them over thousands of years of history.

1. Pre-Nawruz Traditions and the Role of Women:

Before the arrival of Nawruz, families make special preparations, in which women play a special role. These include growing grass, house cleaning, celebrating Chaharshanbe Suri (Red Wednesday), cooking Samanak, preparing seven fruits, and preparing Nawruz night foods.

Growing Grass:

One of the popular rituals now is planting greens. Some believe that the devil inflicted the plague of drought on the earth, but Jamshid fought against the devil and defeated him. Upon Jamshid’s return, the trees, plants, and woods all turned green, so people called this day Nawruz. Therefore, two weeks before Nawroz, people plant wheat in a container as a blessing, and water it every day so that it sprouts.

House Cleaning:

Before Nawruz, families clean and wash their houses to remove pollution. In this custom, the old belief is that the spirits of the dead ancesters come to their homes on the first days of this month, visit the Haft Sin (a special drink mixed with dry fruits) table and their foods, eat some of it, and pray for the family members. But if the houses are unclean and without a Haft Sin table, they get sad and leave, upset until the next year. Therefore, cleaning and adorning the house and living environment is one of the usual traditions of this celebration.

Chaharshanbe Suri (Red Wednesday)

According to Zoroastrians, fire destroys impurity and illuminates darkness. Zoroastrians did not worship fire but regarded it as a symbol of a superior human being. Therefore, the Chaharshanbe Suri was celebrated by lighting a fire every year on the last Wednesday (Tuesday night) of the year. This celebration is now displayed among different communities of the Nawruz region with different perceptions. The word “Suri” means “red.” People usually turn on the fire in the afternoon and keep it on until the morning before the sun rises, jump over it, and sing the sentence, “Your redness is mine, and my yellowness is yours.”

Cooking Samanak:

Women contribute to cooking Samanak by gathering together. In Afghanistan, women cook Samanak in a big cauldron while performing the Samanak song.

Preparing Seven Fruits:

Families prepare a drink made of seven fruits, consisting of red, green, and black raisins, with dried apricots, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, and oleaster in water, and serve it to their family members and relatives on New Year’s Day.

Nawruz Night Foods:

On Nawruz night, women decorate the Nawruz table by preparing foods such as spinach and steamed rice, and all family members happily eat together and wish good luck for the new year.

2. Customs of Nawruz Day:

On Nawruz and afterward for a few days, different traditions are observed, such as the Haft Sin (seven elements) table, wearing new clothes, adorning women, visiting relatives, giving children gifts, flying kites, and celebrating the “Gul-e-Sorkh” (red tulip) festival in northern Afghanistan.

• The Nawruz table is said to be one of the best traditions of this celebration, which is arranged by putting the Haft Sin (seven elements whose names start with the letter ‘S’ in Persian) table. In fact, each element is known as a symbol of a state. For instance, grass symbolizes happiness and new life, oleaster is a symbol of love, apples symbolize health, coins symbolize wealth, garlic is a symbol of a guardian, mushrooms symbolize infinity, and vinegar is a symbol of patience and happiness.

• Nawruz-loving families place mirrors and light candles next to the Haft Sin and put Ferdowsi’s book Shahnamah, or Maulana’s book Masnavi and Hafiz’s book. They decorate the Haft Sin table with the aim of preserving their mother tongue and ancestral culture. On the other hand, in Afghanistan, the Haft Sin is mostly used among the people of Kabul and the northern regions.

• In addition to the Nawruz table, wearing new clothes and adorning women on Nawruz day is also considered one of the aesthetic effects of Nawruz. Families rush to see their relatives and wear new clothes. Nawruz is a good occasion for solidarity and strengthening social relations among families and cultural groups. On the other hand, children receive Nawruz gifts from adults on Nawruz day. Adults fly kites, which carry a message of peace and is one of the fun and popular games in Afghanistan culture.
• It is worth mentioning that the “Gul-e-Sorkh” (red tulip) festival is another name for the Nawruz celebration in northern Afghanistan, especially in the Balkh province. With the presence of tourists, it is held on the slopes of mountains and green hills during Nawruz, and people enjoy the green atmosphere of spring and spend their Nawruz days happily by dancing and stomping their feet. However, before the Taliban, Nawruz was officially celebrated with two days off. However, the people of Balkh continued this spring festival for forty days because Balkhians begin Nawruz with the raising of “Jahende Sakhi,” whose philosophy actually comes from Kaviani’s flag, and after forty days, the Nawruz ritual also ends.

• The first thirteenth day of Nawruz is also celebrated and called “Sizdeh Ba Dar.” On these days, families go to the plains and recreational places to have fun, walk on the grass and enjoy the spring.

The Idea of Nature-Friendliness and Kindness in the Nawruz Ritual:

Nawruz is the celebration of nature and the end of winter. With the arrival of Nawruz, winter, with all its coldness, gives way to the new season. In this season, nature wears green clothes. Among all the excitement and natural beauty that humans always enjoy, it is important to remember that human life is not possible without water, nature, forests, birds, and fresh and clean weather. Nawruz’s message teaches human societies that all these creatures, which make life sweet and precious for us, should not be neglected in protecting their rights and lives, and we should have a fair attitude towards the protection of the environment and the use of natural resources.

Nawruz teaches us that greenery and a healthy nature are the causes of happiness and prosperity in people’s lives, and humans are considered responsible for protecting this important trust because human survival is connected with a healthy nature.

The message of Nawruz on the environment has a direct connection with the content of the fourth generation of human rights. Environmental protection, attention to nature conservation, and nature-friendliness are considered the main themes of human rights for the continuation of human life. What is clearly visible in this Iranian ritual is the promotion of the ethics of altruism, which is a humanitarian sense in relation to humans, living beings, and nature. Based on the teachings of the Avesta religion, including Zoroastrianism, generosity towards humans and kindness towards animals, and the desire to be happy are considered beautiful traits of the divine (creature/god).

Therefore, the ancient Aryans tried to take away mourning and sorrow with every occasion. They should remove hatred, turbidity, annoying words, and negative thoughts from their minds and lives, throwing them away with the winter garbage, and welcome Nawruz with generosity and help for others.

Although the Nawruz ritual has been promoted among the people of the region beyond religious ideologies for a long period, the teachings of the Zoroastrian religion with the message of good thoughts, good words, and good deeds have cast a shadow on the thoughts of Nawruz lovers. Zoroastrian Persians believed Nawruz to be a ritual of good thinking and mutual friendship, and today, friendship, sympathy, and mutual respect are prominent features of Nawruz, where Muslims and non-Muslims hug each other with a message of happiness. Fathers, mothers, and relatives congratulate this day with smiles and love.

The Last Word:

The Nawruz feast has humanitarian traditions and teachings, promoting cultural upbringing, the ethics of altruism, sympathy, philanthropy, and kindness. It also causes the unity and convergence of Nawruz-celebrating countries towards cultural and political pluralism. The artistic roles of men and women are integral to Nawruz traditions. This festival, with its message of peace and friendship, was registered by the United Nations as an intangible world heritage.