Nowruz - Persian New Year

The Nowruz special table

        In Afghanistan the New Year’s first day, called NOWRUZ, It is also the first day of spring; therefore Afghans considers Nowruz a symbol of hope, and new and fresh life.

         The wild tulips and other plants start to bloom at this time of the year. Every year, there is a traditional celebration called the RED FLOWER FASTIVAL “Maila e Gule Surkh” which thousands of people traveling from all over the Afghanistan to Mazare Sharef province to join Maila e Gule Surkh the Red Flower Fastival,  last for forty days. 

         Families and groups of friends go on picnics to parks or green fields playing different kind of games, playing  music and dancing  . Another custom on Nowruz is preparing Haft-mewa which is literally means, “Seven Fruits”. It is a mixture of seven kind of dried fruits soaked in water. 

     
       The soaked fruits usually include walnuts, almonds, pistachios, two different black and red raisins, sinjed( a kind of berry)and dry apricot. After being mixed and soaked for a night or two, the fruits are served along with their flavorful syrup on New Years day (Nowruz). If you visit an Afghan family on the New Year’s Day, you will get to try this tasty treat.

The Nowruz special table is called 7 S’s or (Sufra e Haft seen):

Senjed (Special kind of Berries)

Sabza (Grasses)

Sir (Garlic)

Sib (Apple)

Seka (Coins)

Serka (Vinegar)

Somaq(Spices)

Samano(Weeds)

Nowroz Mubarak! 

      To learn more about Newroz, visit http://thekurdishproject.org/history-and-culture/kurdish-culture/kurdish-newroz/ or http://www.ibtimes.com/what-norooz-greetings-history-traditions-celebrate-persian-new-year-1562607 

This article was written by Frozan S., LAMP Dari/Farsi Interpreter