Today (Sunday) the sun entered the Zodiac sign of Aeries at 10 am and the Parsi-Irani Zoroastrian community celebrated the ancient festival of Navroz.
Marking the vernal equinox, the day marks an occasion when the sun shines directly on the equator, creating days and nights of equal length. Families greet each oher with “Navroz Mubarak” and lay out meals with seven dishes, each beginning with the letter “S”:
- sib (apple),
- sabzi (vegetables),
- sir (garlic),
- serkeh (vinegar),
- sumac (a crushed herb),
- senjed (olives)
- and sikka (coins).
The community flocks to fire temples to pray to the Sun.
Navroz is also celebrated in Shia Iran and Sunni Tajikistan and other central Asian countries which were once part of the Persian empire. The event also conveys the message that human life is closely interwoven with the cycle of happiness, joy, success and failure. The origin of this festival goes back several thousand years back in time in the pre-historical ages when Jamshed of the Peshadadian dynasty was anointed king – the day of his anointment was called Navroz (‘New Day’).
