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Navruz
Navruz – is a New Year holiday
celebrated by many Oriental nations.
The holiday dates back to the time
when the most ancient chapters of
Avesta, the sacred book of the Zoroastrians,
were being written. Today “Navruz”
is celebrated each year on March
21st. 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. Its celebration
is marked by concerts in parks and
squares, trade fairs and national
horseracing competitions, dog and
cock fighting.
Celebrations of spring are a natural
outgrowth of the earth is 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. 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.
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.
We invite everyone to joint to the
Spring Festival of “Navruz”
in Uzbekistan!!!
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