Page 2 | 1394 | April 2015 مجله داخل پروازی هواپیمایی ماهان نوروز 1394

Mahan Inflight Magazine Nowruz 1394

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Managing Director: Mehdi Aliari

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CONTENTS

Poem...... 3 The International Day of Nowruz...... 4 Nowruznameh...... 5 Nowruz Ceremonies...... 6 Amoo Norooz...... 9 Mir-e Nowruzi...... 10 Kusa...... 11 Nowruz in Azerbayjan...... 12 Happy, Happy New Year!

We wish you all the best, Great work to reach your fondest goals, And when you’re done, sweet rest. We hope for your fulfillment, Contentment, peace and more, A brighter, better new year than You’ve ever had before. Page 4 | Nowruz 1394 | April 2015

"Nowruz reminds us of the values of Humanity as a cultural tradition and aspirations we all share for peace observed by numerous peoples, Nowruz through tolerance, respect and mutual is an ancestral festivity marking the understanding.” first day of spring and the renewal of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon nature. It promotes values of peace The United Nations’ (UN) International and solidarity between generations and Day of Nowruz celebrates the start of the within families as well as reconciliation Persian spring festival March 21 ever year. and neighborliness, thus contributing to It occurs on or around the time of the cultural diversity and friendship among March equinox. people and different communities. International Nowruz Day was proclaimed About 300 million people worldwide by the United Nations General Assembly, celebrate Nowruz, with traditions and in its resolution A/RES/64/253 of 2010, rituals particularly strong in the Balkans, at the initiative of several countries that the Black Sea and Caspian Sea regions, share this holiday (, Albania, the Caucasus, Central and South Asia, and , the Former Yugoslav Republic the Middle East. Events may include folk of Macedonia, India, Iran (Islamic Republic dance performances, special concerts, of), , , , and tree planting ceremonies. Turkey and . Inscribed in 2009 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage

21 March International Day of Nowruz Nowruznameh, A treatise on the origins Nowruznameh – epistle of Nowruz – the writing of which is attributed to Omar of history and rituals of Khayyam, the celebrated Persian-speaking the Nowruz feast poet, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher. Nowruznameh is the only Omar Khayyam classical Persian text on the historical Nowruz feast, even though the Persian poetry is inundated throughout its history with the topic of Nowruz and the related issues. This ancient feast has visited hearts and homes of the people in this geographical region, discarded the violence of winter and has planted the green foliage of love in its place. There is a wealth of information in Nowruznameh about names of horses and explanations about them, names of different types of swords, beliefs of our predecessors about beauty, styles of the kings, signs of treasures and the characteristics that our predecessors attributed to silver and gold, and etc. All that information, in the beautiful prose style of the fifth century after Hegira, wrapped in the context of mesmerizing stories and fables, has attached high literary value to this book.

Page 5 | Nowruz 1394 | April 2015 Page 6 | Nowruz 1394 | April 2015 NOWRUZ, Persian New Year Nowruz Spread and Dishes

As the spring's footsteps which means "It is Hajji Persian mythology. We Then there exists sumac start tickling the ears, lilies, Firuz, coming only once a are told of seven levels of berries, "Somaq", which daffodils and narcissus year". earth and heaven, seven epitomizes the color of wake up to bloom, the Along with his troupe of deities superior to others, the sunrise;and as the last impatient Iranians awaiting musicians, he strolls on seven constellations which article "Serkeh" (vinegar) the spring, set up a colorful the streets, alleyways, and controlled the fate of the epitomizes patience and celebration to give it a red other passages entertaining mortals and even seven age. carpet welcome. Nowruz people. Generous days in a week. Seven-S is the Persians' longest and people impressed by the spread, in Persian called There are also some articles most cherished national performance often present "Sofreye Haft Sin", is the whose initial is not "S", festivity, on which all the artists with some tip. inextricable component but count with the items Iranians celebrate the New of all homes on Nowruz. of "Sofreye Haft-Sin". A Year with the nature's Esfand, the last winter Sofreh means spread or religious book(Quran, for resurrection from withered month of the year is the tablecloth and Haft Sin, Muslims), an upright mirror, winter. high time for a welcoming seven-S. The role of Haft Sin burning candles, colored preparation. To begin is very comparable to that eggs (as the Easter eggs), Nowruz is the Celebration with, the housekeepers of the Christmas tree in the a bowl of water with an of Life; it is determined set out to do the spring- Christian countries. Each orange floating in, a bowl according to the spring cleaning, "Khaane-Tekaani" item has its own symbolism, of water with a gold fish equinox and coincides with in Persian, which mainly which stems from the within, Iranian sweetmeats, March 21, or the previous/ entails the washing of the advent of the custom. confectioneries, different following day, marking the carpets and the other must- Haft Sin's most outstanding fruits, traditional Iranian start of the spring in the wash items and furniture. item is "Sabzeh" (the green pastries such as baghlava, northern hemisphere. The other preparation is sprouts of , barley "aajeel" (dried nuts, berries growing "Sabzeh" (wheat, or lentil) which symbolizes and raisins) are other Nowruz's characteristic lentil, or barley seeds) in rebirth and usually is important components of herald, the old tambourine some pot, which is done beatified with a strip of red the whole Nowruz festival, man, Hajji Firuz, with black- about a week before ribbon, while an orange may and the national colors of painted face and a red garb Nowruz; but today many be placed atop. A glittering Iran. on, goes out in the cities and people simply buy them. red or yellow "Seeb"(apple) Nowruz has its own villages and while dancing One other preparation is the second and stands for particular dishes, too. and singing cheerful songs, to welcome Nowruz is beauty and good health. "Sabzi-Polo Mahi", rice spreads high spirits and "Nowruzian shopping", "Samanu", a kind of a sweet with green herbs and fish, delight among the public. called "Kharid-e Nowruzi". pudding or custard, is the is served on the night just He is the messenger of It includes purchasing new next article symbolizing preceding Nowruz, or on health, power, happiness clothes, sweets, flower (in affluence. The following the same Nowruz day. On and abundance in New particular hyacinths and item stands for love and is the next day "Reshte Polo", Year. His traditional musical tulips) and the articles of called "Senjed", fruit of the rice cooked with noodles is instruments are trumpet "Haft Sin". oleaster or lotus tree. The prepared. "Koku Sabzi" is and tambourine; while his forth one is "Seer" () served for the dinner and traditional song is "Hajji Number 'seven' has got and is the representative is made out of herbs and Firuz-e, Saali Ye Ruz-e", a holy position in the of medicine on the spread. vegetable soufflé.

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Nowruz Ceremonies

Nowruz begins with "Saal Tahvil", which can be translated as the renewal of the year. It is the very first instant in the New Year; the exact moment of the spring equinox. Everybody in the family, dressed up in his or her new clothes, gathers around the Haft Sin spread looking forward to "SaalTahvil". As the countdown ushers in the New Year, the members of the family, rejoicing, cheer up, hug and kiss each other, and exchange Nowruz greetings, "Eid-e Shomamobarak!" or "Sal-e No Mobarak" (Happy New Year). Now families, have a set schedule of visits to their relatives, neighbors and friends and receiving their visits, too.

This custom that first the young call on the elder demonstrates the respect that Iranians pay to the aged people. Visits are short, so that a typical visit takes one about 30 minutes. "Eidi", new-year gift, is another characteristic feature of Nowruz. Within the family, it is the duty of the head of the household to grant the Eidi to the members of the family, the same can be true of the visitors as well. Of course, in the case of visitors only those who are considered younger, or lower in rank, would receive "Eidi". The rounds of visitations might last as long as twelve days, up to the day of "Sizdah Bedar".

Nowruz repeats and renews everything, generates and revives the nature and influences Iranian creative soul, emotion and thought. Amoo Norooz, Nanehsarma & Haji Firuz Amu Nowruz or Amoo Norooz means the "Uncle Norooz". Along with his side-kick Hajji Firuz, Amoo Norooz ushers in the spring time every year according to Iranian tradition. On the eve of spring equinox, when the Iranian New Year is celebrated in the Iran Cultural Continent from Albania in the West to the west of the China in the East, Amoo Norooz brings children gifts, much like his Western counterpart Santa Claus. Along with Amoo Norooz and Haji Firooz, the Iranian New Year mythical characters include Naneh Sarma, sometimes called "Lady of the Cold Spells" , or "Grandma Frost". Haji Firooz is the announcer of Norooz's arrival while Amoo Norooz is more of a respected— almost always older—character who gives the gifts of Norooz. Haji Firooz is young, playful and clownish, dancing, chanting, and playing his tambourine to bring good cheer. Amoo Norooz, on the other hand, is more of a wise historical presence who passes the old story of Nowruz to the young, thus giving the occasion the respect it deserves. Also, Haji Firooz demands eidee, "presents" while Amoo Norooz grants presents.

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Mir-e Nowruzi Mir-e Noroozi is, in fact, a temporary governor who governs the municipality for a few days. Usually individuals from the working class are chosen for this task. This temporary king, clad in official attire for the occasion, organizes an army and appoints assistants; in short he forms a government of his own and is given a lot of authority, and therefore has the right to punish and reward people. In olden times, for instance, if a merchant sold goods for a price higher than the actual cost during Nowruz, the Mir could publicly punish him for this. Sometimes the Mir would look at this game as an opportunity to punish his enemies. Usually on the last day of his reign, the temporary king runs away and hides somewhere, because people could become vengeful as a result of his behavior during his reign. In northern Khorasan, this playful king is called Khaan-e Sizdah Roozeh (literally, the 13 days ruler). You can even find the trace of this game in the poetry of the Persian poet of the 14th century, Hafez:

I speak behind the curtains of metaphor, come out of the bud like a flower For, the temporary king of Nowruz has a verdict for but five days Kusa

A Persian carnival character known to the medieval and modern folklore of central and western Persia.

KUSA “a man with little or no beard, beardless”), a carnival character known to the medieval and modern folklore of central and western Persia. The celebration of the Kusa festival “the riding of the thin- bearded” is reported by early Islamic authors and some more recent, secondary texts. The custom was performed during the spring festival. An ugly, thin-bearded man, dressed in rags, appeared in the streets riding a donkey or a mule, holding a crow in one hand and a fan in the other. He bade Mir-e Nowruzi farewell to the winter and announced the coming of spring, demanding money for his good news. In spite of a still cold weather, Kusa pretended to be hot, fanning himself with his fan and exclaiming (“Warmth! Warmth!”). (In order to feel warm actually, he ate warming food (, garlic, fat meat), and rubbed some ointments on his body. The people threw water, snow, and ice on him and he, by his turn, threw some muddy, staining matter at those who refused him a gift. What is described in these old sources seems to be an institutionalized urban custom. The role of Kusawas hereditary and lucrative. Kusawas allowed to circulate only until the afternoon; if caught afterwards, he may be beaten.

Page 11 | Nowruz 1394 | April 2015 Page 12 | Nowruz 1394 | April 2015 Nowruz in Azerbaijan Nowruz in Azerbaijan is a traditional holiday which celebrates the New Year, and the coming of spring. When Azerbaijan was part of the Soviet Union, celebration of Nowruz was generally unofficial, and at times even prohibited. Currently in Azerbaijan, Nowruz is treated as an official public holiday. In accordance with Article 105 of the Labor Code of Azerbaijan passed in 2006, workers receive five days off for Nowruz. Nowruz customs and celebration Usually preparation for Nowruz begins a month prior to the festival. Each of forthcoming 4 weeks is devoted to one of the four elements and called accordingly in Azerbaijan. Each Tuesday people celebrate the day of one of the four elements - water, fire, earth and wind. People do house cleaning, plant trees, make new dresses, paint eggs and make national pastries such as shekerbura, pakhlava, shorgoghal and a great variety of national cuisine. Wheat is fried with kishmish (raisins) and govurga (nuts). As a tribute to fire- respecting every Tuesday during four weeks before the holiday, kids jump over small bonfires and candles are lit. On the holiday eve the graves of relatives are visited and tended. Nowruz is a family holiday. In the evening before the holiday the whole family gathers around the holiday table laid with various dishes to make the New Year rich. The holiday goes on for several days and ends with festive public entertainment of folk bands, contests of national sports. In rural areas crop holidays are marked. The decoration of the festive table is khoncha, a big silver or copper tray with Samani, green shoots from wheat seeds placed in the center and candles and dyed eggs by the number of family members around it. The table should be set, at least, with seven dishes.

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