Nowruz
What is Nowruz?
The first day of Nowruz coincides with the Spring (Vernal) Equinox
in the northern hemisphere, and the Autumnal Equinox of the southern
hemisphere. This is the time of year when the sun crosses the
celestial equator, and the length of the day and night become equal.
Based on historical manuscripts, celebrations of Nowruz outdate the
Achaemenid Empire.
Iranians celebrated the coming of the New Year with special customs
and rituals in older times, some of which carry on ubiquitously and
some have undergone changes. Nowruz signifies the turn of the year
in Iran and Afghanistan. In countries such as Tajikistan, Russia,
Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Syria, Iraq, Georgia, the
Republic of Azerbaijan, Albania, China, and Uzbekistan, Nowruz is a
national holiday and many of the people spend the day in
celebration.
What is haft-seen?
Haft-Sin or Haft-seen, is, in fact, the tradition of putting 7 symbolic objects together whose names commence with S. Other symbolic items accompany these 7 objects and together, they create a Haft-sin. In the past, people used to put all of these items on a mantel or a designed fabric similar to a tablecloth, which they call it “Sofreh”. That's the reason why Haft-Sin is generally referred to as “Sofreh Haft-Sin”.
