Hi* Nowruz is the traditional Iranian new year holiday celebrated by Iranian & many other people in west Asia. Central Asia, South Asia, Northwestern china, the causasus, the crimea, and in Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia. Nowruz marks the first day of spring & the beginning of the Iranian Year. It usually occures March 21. Today the festival of Nowruz is celebrated in many countries that were terriotories of, or influenced by, the Persian Empire. Nowruz celebrated in Iran: In Iran preparation for Nowruz begin in Esfand, the last month of Winter in the Persian solar calendar. Khune Takouni: It literally means "shaking the house" or complete cleaning of the house. People clean their houses & buy new clothes to wear for the new year & also buy flowers specially Hyacinth & the Tulip.In association with the "rebirth of nature", extensive spring-cleaning is a national tradition here. Nowruz holiday is twelve day celebration which families visit the elders of their family, then the rest of family & finally their friends. On the 13th day families leave their homes & picnic outdoors. Some Nowruz celebrants believe that whatever a person does on Nowruz will affect the rest of the year. So, if a person is warm & kind to their relatives, friends & neighbors on Nowruz, the the new year will be a good one. On the other hand, if there are fights & disagreements, the year will be a bad one. Haftseen: Haftseen or the seven 's's is a major tradition of Nowruz. The haft seen table includes seven specific items starting with the letter 'S' in persian alphabet. The items symbolically correspond to seven creation & holy immortals protecting them. The items are: Sabzeh_ wheat, barley or lentil sprouts growing in a dish- symbolizing rebirth Samanu_ a sweet puding made from wheat germ- symbolizing affluence Senjed_ the died fruit of the olaster tree- symbolizing love Sir_ garlic- symbolizing medicine Sib_ apple- symbolizing beauty & health Somaq_ sumac berries- symbolizing (the color of) sunrise Serkeh_ vinegar- symbolizing age & patience other items on the table may includes: Sonbol_ Hyacinth (plant) Sekkeh_ coin- representative of wealth Traditional Iranian pastries such as baghlava, toot, naan nokhodchi Aajeel_ dried nuts, berries & raisins Lit candles (enlightment & happiness) A mirroe_( symbolizing cleaness & honesty) Decorated eggs, ( fertility ) A bowl of water with goldfish (lif within life, & the sign of pisces which the sun is leaving) Rosewater, believed to have magical cleaning powers The national colors, for a patriotic touch A holy book (e.g the Quran, Avesta, Bible, Torah) &/or poetry book (almost always either the Shahnama or the Divan of Hafez) Sizdah Bedar: the 13 day of the new year festival is Sizdah Bedar( literallly means thirteen to out, figuratively meaning "hit the outdoors on the thirteenth").people spend their time in picnic & at the end of the celebration on this day, the Sabzeh grown for the Hafseen (which has symbolically collected all sickness & bad luck) is thrown in to running water to exorcise the demons from the household. An other tradition associated with this day is Dorugh-e Sizdah, literally meaning "the lie of the thirteenth" which is the process of lying to someone & making them believe it (similar to April fools Day). For more info u can check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norouz Haftseen:
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