Navruz Mubarak to all my friends and readers, especially to people belonging to my village of Madaklasht in Chitral
CHITRAL: Navruz is a Persian word meaning ‘new day’. Every year it is celebrated throughout the world on March 21. In the Persian calendar, it is the first day of the spring season. It is celebrated on the first day of the first month of the Shehenshai calendar followed by the Zoroastrain faith. Navruz is also known as Jamshed-e-Navruz after the Persian ruler Jamshed. Jamshed-e-Navroz is symbolises rejuvenation and renaissance. It signifies a time of spiritual revitalisation and physical rejuvenation. It also signifies to humanity the spirit of gratefulness for blessings and the stance of hope and optimism towards the future.
For thousands of years, the Navruz festival has been celebrated by assorted ethnic communities from varying religious backgrounds. It originated in Iran and is celebrated in the regions influenced by Persian culture or where Persians have migrated including Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Iraq, eastern Turkey, the North Caucasus and Pakistan. The UN General Assembly, in 2010, recognised the International Day of Navruz as the spring festival of Persian origin, which has been celebrated for over 3,000 years. Navruz was also officially registered on the Unesco List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in October 2009 during the meeting of the Inter-governmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage of the UN.
Navruz is celebrated with great enthusiasm and in a traditional way to symbolise the rebirth of nature in different parts of Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan by the Ismaili community living there. It is celebrated in Madaklasht, which is a small village of Chitral and whose inhabitants migrated to the area some 300 years back from Badakhshan, according to a study done by D L R Lorimer in 1922. They still celebrate it with the same fervour as it was celebrated by their ancestors many years back.
In Madaklasht, Chitral, the inhabitants celebrate Navruz from March 21 to March 23. Celebrations include the Khona Rowan (cleaning of homes), bringing in a green branch from a tree near the home by an elder to symbolise new life in nature and also giving some pieces of bread to birds and animals as a symbol of good gesture. Different dishes prepared for Navruz have their own importance and are a symbol of purity, good health, beauty, rebirth of nature, harmony and peace. The person selected to first enter the home at the beginning of the day on Navruz is believed to bring good luck and prosperity in every aspect of life for the rest of the year. The Navruz day is initiated with special morning prayers for the prosperity and well-being of humanity. The same routine is repeated for three days. People decorate their houses, greet their guests and entertain them with food. All family members and guests also wear special clothes on the day. The day brings with it an opportunity for people to sit together and discuss the activities and important events that happened during the year that has just passed and the precautions to be taken for the following year. Navruz Mubarak to all my friends and readers, especially to the people belonging to my village of Madaklasht in Chitral.
Naveed Haider
Published in The Express Tribune, March 21st, 2015.
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