Celebrating Navroz!

S.A. SAFVI

SRINAGAR, Mar 21: Zehra has prepared some special dishes for her guests. The sweet aroma fills her kitchen as she gets ready to host her guests. After spreading the dastarkhwan (ceremonial dining spread) with elaborate dishes, she is eagerly waiting for her guests to arrive. “Today is a day for celebrations,” she says.

Navroz-e-Alam is celebrated with great fervour in Kashmir. Varieties of dishes are prepared according to the traditions and served to family members. Spinach and Nadroo (Lotus stem) are hot favourites and you would hardly find a single household which has not prepared Spinach and Nadroo dishes.

Youngsters wear new clothes and visit their relatives’ home and greet them. In return, they are paid cash as eidi (gifts) by their elders.

The exchange of greetings is not confined to youngsters only, but elders also visit their relatives’ home or neighbours’ home to greet each other.

Navroz is essentially a traditional ancient new year festival of Iran. It is also referred to as Persian New Year. Thanks to the cultural and traditional alliance between Kashmir and Persia, this festival has been celebrated in Kashmir also from pre-Islamic times.

Iranian’s believe that it was on the day of Navroz that the universe came into being, sun shone for the first time, Adam was bestowed with the soul, Noah’s Ark got rescued, Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) summoned his last sermon to the mankind, and Ali got married to Bibi Fatima. The day also marks the beginning of blossoming spring and end of winter.

Pertinently, the day has no religious significance, it is purely cultural. It is largely due to the cultural influence of Perisa (nowadays Iran) on Kashmir, also referred to as Iran-e Sagheer, that March 21 is celebrated as Navroz every year.

Kashmiri Pandits also celebrate Navroz (or Navreh) on a date around the ‘vernal equinox’, between mid-March and mid-April.

Similar to the Iranian tradition of Haft Sin (seven dishes), Thal Bharun (meaning 'filling the platter') is a major Pandit Navroz tradition. The items on the tray generally include rice, wheat, a sweet pudding made from milk, and cereal, fruits, walnuts, rosewater, a coin, a pen, an ink-holder, a mirror, and a lit diya or clay lamp.