Mumbai: The Iranian new year Jamshedi Navroz or Nowruz will be celebrated on Friday (March 21). The Parsi Irani community began visiting the fire temple for worship as the calendar turned Thursday afternoon.
On Friday, they will lay out the ‘haft seen‘, which is a traditional arrangement of seven (‘haft’) symbolic items whose names start with the letter ‘S’ (‘seen’ in Persian). The festive table is laden with seven auspicious items like apple representing beauty, garlic symbolising good health, vinegar representing patience, hyacinth for spring, sweet pudding in honour of fertility, sprouts representing rebirth and coins showing prosperity.
The Jamshedi calendar is named in honour of King Jamshed of Persia, the benevolent ruler who devised it. Navroz is celebrated across Central Asia, Afghanistan and India on the day of the vernal equinox when the day and night span equal duration. It marks the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere.
Like Indian new year festivals, Nowruz upholds the victory of light over darkness, and celebrates renewal, the stirrings of new life and gratitude for God’s blessings.
Meanwhile at Imambada in Bhindi Bazaar, Hassan Irani of Iranian Sweets Palace dusted open his shop which operates for a few weeks a year during Navroz. Buyers arrive to purchase classic treats like baklava, louze pista, pomegranate molasses, pashmak, sohan, gaz, halwa, dry fruit and nuts, and rose syrup.
Irani, an Iranian origin Muslim, said the special occasion is cherished by all Persians. “Festivities began at 2.31 pm on Thursday March 20 itself though the main ceremonies will take place Friday. Blue and purple is the colour of the year and the animal is the snake,” he said.