Navroz

In News

• Prime Minister recently extended greetings on the occasion of Parsi New Year-Navroz.

About

• Navroz or Nowruz is an Iranian and Persian New year. The word ‘now’ means ‘new’ and ruz means ‘day’. Therefore, the word literally translates to a new day.’ 
• It marks the beginning of the spring season and is celebrated with great fervour by members of the Parsi community across the globe, including in India.

History

• The festival of Nowruz is named after the Persian king, Jamshed, who is credited for creating the Persian or the Shahenshahi calendar. 
• Jamshed saved the world from an apocalypse that came in the form of winter and was destined to kill everyone.
• According to scriptures, in the realm of King Jamshed, there was no excessive heat or cold and no premature deaths and everyone lived happily. 
• It is said that the festival came to India courtesy of an 18th-century wealthy tradesman from Surat, Nusservanji Kohyaji, who often traveled to Iran and began celebrating Nowruz in India.

Which countries celebrate Nowruz?

• Countries having significant Persian cultural influence like Iran, Iraq, India, Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia.

Nowruz celebrations in India

• In India, the festival is observed around August 16-17 by the Parsi community following the Shahenshahi calendar which does not account for leap years, which means the holiday has now moved by 200 days from its original day. 
• It is inscribed in the list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of India.

What is Zoroastrianism?

• Zoroastrianism is one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions. It was founded by the Prophet Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) in ancient Iran approximately 3500 years ago.
• It was created over 3,500 years ago in ancient Iran by Prophet Zarathustra.
• For 1000 years Zoroastrianism was one of the most powerful religions in the world. It was the official religion of Persia (Iran) from 600 BCE to 650 CE. It is now one of the world’s smallest religions.
• Zoroastrians believe there is one God called Ahura Mazda (Wise Lord) and He created the world.
• The Zoroastrian book of Holy Scriptures is called The Avesta.
• Zoroastrians are roughly split into two groups:
  • The Iranians
  • The Parsis
• The Parsis (‘Parsi’ is Gujarati for Persian) are the largest single group in India, with an estimated 2.6 million Zoroastrians worldwide.
• Zoroastrians (Parsis) are one of the notified minority communities

Source: HT