A celebration of spring

  • 2010-03-19
  • Helsinki Times

The upcoming vernal equinox marks the beginning of the Iranian New Year, an ancient celebration of spring.

The Iranian New Year, called Nowruz or "New Day," is an ancient festival celebrating the rebirth of nature, and the triumph of light over darkness. It precedes the first day of the Iranian calendar, and is marked annually by the spring equinox of the northern hemisphere, the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator, when day and night are of equal length. Nowruz is celebrated principally in Iran, Afghanistan, Kurdistan and Tajikistan and also by numerous Iranian and Turkic peoples from the Balkans through the Caucasus and India to northwest China.

 

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