Nowruz new day

NOWRUZ NEW DAY

Plan:

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  What is Nowruz and how is the Persian New Year celebrated?
  
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  About the history of Nowruz holiday
  

What is Nowruz and how is the Persian New Year celebrated?
Some 300 million people celebrate the Persian New Year, which has been observed for 3,000 years in different regions. Here’s what we know about the festivity.

Iraqi Kurdish people carry fire torches, as they celebrate Nowruz, a festival marking the first day of spring and the new year, in the town of Akra near
By Al Jazeera Staff
Published On 21 Mar 202321 Mar 2023
Nowruz – No-Ruz or Farsi for “new day” – is an ancient festival celebrating the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
More than 300 million people celebrate the Persian New Year, which has been observed for more than 3,000 years in different regions, including the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and others.
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Here is what to know about the festivity.
What is Nowruz?
Nowruz is a celebration that marks the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one and is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox, which usually takes place on March 21.
The celebrations last for 13 days, and it’s an opportunity to reflect on the past and set intentions for the future.
The festival is rooted in Zoroastrianism, a religion practised in ancient Persia that predates Christianity and Islam.
Participants take a selfie during a festival marking ‘Nauryz’, an ancient holiday celebrating the spring equinox, in Kazakhstan [Pavel Mikheyev/Reuters]
According to The United Nations cultural agency (UNESCO), the return of spring has great spiritual significance, representing the triumph of good over evil and joy over sorrow.
“The Spirit of Noon, known as Rapithwina, who was considered to be driven underground by the Spirit of Winter during the cold months, was welcomed back with celebrations at noon on the day of Nowruz according to Zoroastrian tradition,” UNESCO said.
The celebration is part of UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and the United Nations General Assembly of 2010 proclaimed March 21 as International Nowruz Day.