Novruz festivities, an integral part of the Azerbaijani Culture

Photo by Aydin Mamedov

One of the best times to visit beautiful Azerbaijan is during March, when centuries-old Novruz festivities take place at the streets of this ancient “Land of Fire”. Celebrated every year on 20-21 March, Novruz symbolizes beginning of the spring season, as well as New Year in the Eastern calendar. Novruz is perhaps the oldest and the most favorite holiday in Azerbaijan. Many of its traditions originate from Zoroastrianism, one of the earliest religions in the Earth, as well as in Azerbaijan. This holiday and its traditions have been faithfully preserved and celebrated by Azerbaijani people for many centuries. Even when Novruz was banned during the Soviet Union, people celebrated it secretly in their homes.

Novruz holiday is not intrinsic only to Azerbaijan. In fact, it is celebrated by approximately 300 million people all over the world, from East to West, from Afghanistan to Balkans. Not surprisingly, Novruz was included by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2009. For Azerbaijan, Novruz is more than a holiday. It is an integral part of Azerbaijan history, culture, tradition and national identity. It is worth to note that the whole celebration of Novruz starts one month in advance, at the end of February. During the whole month 4 Tuesdays leading to Novruz are celebrated. These Tuesdays are dedicated to re-birth of an element (water, fire, wind and earth) in the nature: 1. Water Tuesday represents melting of ice and revival of rivers. 2. Fire Tuesday represents the warming up of the ground. 3. Wind Tuesday represents blooming trees and flowers. 4. The final Earth Tuesday, which is also called Year-end Tuesday, represents final revival of nature.

Many traditions are associated with Novruz. For instance, it is customary to do a major cleaning in the house before this holiday. Not only physical cleaning, but also spiritual cleaning is performed: that is to say, it is customary to reconcile with everyone towards whom you feel resentment. Thus, Novruz promotes values of peace, reconciliation and solidarity. During this holiday, families and friends visit each other, as well as graves of their deceased and pay their respect.

Interestingly, during Fire Tuesday, as well as during Novruz day itself, children and youth make big bonfires and jump over them. It is believed that once you jump over the bonfire, you leave all the problems and calamities of the previous year behind. This is in some way resembles the bonfire celebrations also in the Netherlands during the New Year festivities. Another interesting custom is that during Earth Tuesday, children ring the bells of the neighbours, put their hats in front of the doors and then hide. Usually, their hats are filled with sweets, nuts and treats. When you share these treats with children, it means you share your spiritual and material wellbeing with other people around. This tradition resembles somewhat “trick and treat” of the Halloween, celebrated in the western part of the world.

Novruz is typically a family holiday. On this day, extended families gather around the family table and share food with eachother. During this holiday, Azerbaijani tables are filled with different exquisite sweets and delicacies, baked specifically for this occasion. For instance, shakarbura (half moon-shaped dough, filled with minced walnut), pakhlava (layers of dough with minced walnut, hazelnut or almond and rose water syrop) and shorgoghal (savory pastry consisting of layers of dough with different spices). Of course, needless to say, the king of Azerbaijan cuisine - pilaf (rice with meat) and yarpag dolmasi (stuffed grapevines with meat, rice and greens) rein the Novruz tables. It is customary to put a large tray on the Novruz tables. In the middle of the tray, people put “samani” – a plant grown from sprouted wheat seeds, which is tied with red ribbon. The rest of the tray is filled with candles (to the number of family members), colourfully decorated eggs (similar to Easter eggs), shakarbura, pakhlava and shorgoghal. All of the delicacies have symbolic meanings: eggs represent new life, shakarbura – moon, pakhlava – four parts of the world, and shorgoghal – sun.

During Novruz, mass gatherings and festivals are held all over Azerbaijan. Streets are filled with music, wrestlers compete with each other, ropewalkers demonstrate their skills, horse races called chovgan are organized, and comedies are performed with competition of two characters of Novruz: Kos-Kosa (goat beard, which symbolizes spring) and Kechal (the bald, which symbolizes winter).

It is not possible to describe all the traditions of Novruz with words. One must travel to Azerbaijan to experience the beauty of it first-hand.

Written by the Embassy of Azerbaijan