During April I'll be posting daily on the A-Z Blogging Challenge.
My theme is the Hunzas
Today is N....... for Nowruz Festival
Persian New Year .... 21'st of March, is a cultural festival that welcomes Spring. It's a time to offer up prayers for a good harvest season. It is not only the 1st day of spring, but the beginning of the year in the Persian calendar.
People gather in their respective villages for prayers, dancing and merriment. Most of the activities are held outdoors with the Himalayas as a dominating background.
After the Arab-Muslim conquest of Persia, the Nowruz Festival became the symbol of cultural resistance against Arab imperialism with alliance of the Sunni and others. The ultimate result was the development of mysticism and Shia Islam.
It was in this environment that Nowruz, the ancient festival of Persia was re-invented by Shia and Sufi as a symbol of the resistance.
Well, it looks like a good time, too.
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Awww I love the children towards the end of the clip joining in and having such a great time!!
ReplyDeleteOh and the fabrics! Beautiful!
What a fun festival - and what a history! Take care
x
Look at those little girls getting into the groove. I bet they have so much fun.
ReplyDeletehow fun! I went to the Festival of Colors in SF, UT last month. It celebrates the beginning of Spring, but it was a little out of control. The space didn't seem large enough to handle all people. All 80,000.
ReplyDeleteThanks, A to Zer!
prose-spective.blogspot.com
I love how in so many of these places, where the natural tones are sort of monochromatic, that the people use brilliant colors. Those trucks in the video from the other day, these women in their bright dresses.
ReplyDeleteKitty : These young girls are amazing. Obviously untrained but so natural. Reminds me of Flamenco.
ReplyDeleteTerry : Sweet young girls. I bet they love all the festive celebrations.
Rena : Thanks for the visit. 80,000 people. No wonder the space was too small. A lot of people are looking forward to spring. It may have been crowded but I bet it was fun "people watching." One of my favorite pastimes.
Bish : Those colors are bright for Muslims. The decorated trucks are actually a work of art. I only found out about the truck decorating a few years ago. They are very artistic and the drivers take such pride in their trucks.
Love the colours and the fluidity of movement.
ReplyDeleteThey sure know how to have fun, the kids just jumped in and went with it.
ReplyDeleteWhat gorgeous colors and fabrics! But, oh, that Shia and Sunni split. Yipes!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Manzi. I don't think the Louisiana Purchase would make it today. Since passage on the Titanic was about $1400 -- or about $100,000 in today's money, the U.S. borders wouldn't have reached west. Oh, those quirks of history.
Everyone seemed to be having so much fun--especially the lady in the red dress!
ReplyDeleteThe patterns on their dresses look similar to Intuit patterns.
ReplyDeleteYes, it does look like a good time. Lots of color and happy dancing. Too bad life isn't like that for the Persians today. (Isn't Iran the old Persia?)
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting and I really want to learn more about these religions and how they split and became such enemies. It must be a beautiful festival with those mountains for a background.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing how others celebrate the new year! What a fun time!
ReplyDeleteIn any language...it's a party!!
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