Happy Navroz 2022: Navroz, the festival of Parsi community and New Year in India, know what is the tradition
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Happy Navroz 2022: Nauroz is a major festival of people who believe in Zoroastrianism. Novroz is a festival of the New Year, which is generally related to the Zoroastrianism.
Today’s Iran was once known as Paras or Persia. It is basically a celebration of the love of nature. Offers a panoramic view of nature’s rise, swell, freshness, greenery and excitement. This festival of the Parsi community is also special in the context of India because today the largest population of Parsis in the world lives in India.
Holi and Navroz, same tradition
The Parsis have their own distinct culture. Fire is worshiped mainly in Navroz and it looks like some Indian festival Holi.
This festival emphasizes on the revival of man and the change in his heart along with consciousness and refinement in the clean soul of nature. It is completely dedicated to the love and beauty of nature. With the change in weather. Nature is adorned with colorful flowers and a new year dawns which is considered a symbol of new ideas, new creativity.
Five Prayers and Rituals on Navroz
Naya Nauraz is one such ritual among the Parsis, which requires five prescribed worship-actions-
- Afringan, that is, prayers of love and praise.
- Baaz, that is, prayers in honor of Yazta or prayers in honor of Fravashi.
- Yasna, a ritual, consisting of offering the holy drink Haoma and ritually drinking it.
Throughout the day, Parsis greet each other in a regular manner, with one person’s right hand placed between the other’s palms. Afterwards, greetings and greetings are expressed.
Navroz festival in India
With ancient traditions and rites, the festival of Nauroz is celebrated not only in Iran but also in some neighboring countries, including India. India is home to a large number of people of the Parsi community, whose ancestors once came to India from Iran.
The beginning of celebrating Navroz as a traditional festival in India was during the tenure of Balban, the founding ruler of the Balbani dynasty. Apart from this, Akbar also considered it a state festival and during the reign of Akbar this festival was celebrated with great enthusiasm and pomp. It has been celebrated for more than 3,000 years in West Asia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin and the Balkans. It is the first day of the first month (Farwardin) of the Iranian calendar. The Iranian calendar is basically based on the solar Hijri calendar.
India has the largest population of Parsis in the world
Before the advent of Islam, the Zarathustra religion was prevalent in ancient Iran. In the seventh century, the Arabs defeated Iran and forcibly converted to Islam by persecuting the Zoroastrians there. It is believed that some Iranians did not convert to Islam and came to India on a boat and settled here in Navsari on the Gujarat coast. At present, their number in India is about one lakh, out of which 70 percent people live in Mumbai.
When Parsis were being persecuted in Iran and other countries, there was an atmosphere of harmony for all in India. This is the reason that today the largest number of Parsis in the world lives in India.
(Presentation – Himanshu Sharma)
