Novruz Holiday

Novruz is widely celebrated in our country as the symbol of winter’s leaving and spring’s coming.

Novruz is celebrated on the first day of spring. The first day of spring on the calendar is determined by the annual circling of the sun.

According to scientists, the holiday has an ancient history. Scientific researches relate the Novruz holiday with the period of the prophet Zardush that dates 3500-5000 years back.

This holiday celebrated in ancient Babylon for 12 days beginning in March 20- 21. each of the 12 days had their ceremonies and enjoyment. According to the first inscription the holiday of Novruz established in 505 B.C.

Nature starts to wake in Novruz and Azerbaijan people demonstratively celebrate it a month ago. On Tuesdays, we celebrate Su Charshabnasi (water-Tuesday), Odlu Charshanba (fire- Tuesday), Torpag Charshanba (land-Tuesday) and Akhir Charshanba (final or wind- Tuesday). According to the folk belief water in the first Tuesday purifies and stirs, fire in the second Tuesday, land on the third Tuesday and wind in the fourth Tuesday awaken the nature, the trees begin to blossom; all this symbolize spring’s coming.

Noruz holiday is rich with ancient traditions and games. ‘Khidir Ilyas’ the symbol of productivity and blossom),’Kos-Kosa’- funny square game (the symbol of spring’s coming) and fortune-telling are among them. Novruz also has Interesting traditions relating to water and fire. Being the land of the fire Azerbaijan has rich traditions relating to it. The fire is the symbol of purification and clarification. Bonfires are made in Novruz and before the holiday comes people in Akhir Charshanba, despite the age and gender, jump seven times over one, or once over 7 bonfires and say: ‘Give me your redness and take my yellowness.’ The fire is never put out by water; it burns down by itself. Young boys and girls take the ash of the fire and throw it far from the house. It is explained as follows: all the mischance of the family is thrown away with the ash. Azerbaijanis pay particular attention to the table laid for the holiday. There should be 7 varieties of food on the table the names of which starts with the letter ‘S’, for example, sumakh (a kind of spice), sirke (vinegar), sud (milk), samani (grown wheat), sebzi (fried meat with greens) etc. A mirror, with coloured eggs on it and candles should also be on the table. The candle is the symbol of fire and light(keeping a person from damage), the mirror is the symbol of happiness.

According to the tradition, all the members of the family should be at home on the first day of the holiday. People say: ‘If you are not at home on the day of the holiday, you will live without a home for seven years.’ The outer doors kept open in the past. On the first day of the new year, the lights are kept turned on the whole night, for turned off light and fire is the symbol of misfortune.

Celebrating Novruz people in the villages determine the peculiarity of the coming year: whether it will be either arid or rainy and determine the degree of productivity. According to the tradition, the first day of Novruz symbolizes spring, the second day after it is summer, the third day is autumn and the fourth is winter. If the first day is windless and arid, so the spring is going to be favourable for agricultural works, and if it is rainy and windy so the spring is expected to be the same. On the rest of the days, they determined summer, autumn and winter.