traditional celebration

[amayakaida]

since we are all from different countries and different cultures i thought it might be a good idea that we talk about the traditional celebration on our countries .

and since I'm very glutton i would be happy if you post some picture of what you usually eat on that day .

it's not necessary to just write about traditional celebration , it can be traditional event or anything else as long as it's traditional ...

[amayakaida]

i will start myself

sry if this is too long ... you can just go and see the pic

 

one of our important traditional celebration is "Nowruz" . it means "the new day" . you can see it in many countries such as Iran , Afghanistan ,Albania , Armenia , Azerbaijan , Georgia , Iraq , Kazakhstan , Kosovo , Kyrgyzstan , Syria , Tajikistan , Turkey , Turkmenistan , Kurdistan and Uzbekistan . ( i live in Iran )

 

we have a traditional table setting in this day : Haft Sin ( the seven 'S's )

 

Haft Sin's items are :

 

 

1. sabzeh - wheat, barley or lentil sprouts growing in a dish - symbolizing rebirth

2. samanu - a sweet pudding made from wheat germ - symbolizing affluence

3. senjed - the dried fruit of the oleaster tree - symbolizing love

4. sīr - garlic - symbolizing medicine

5. sīb - apples - symbolizing beauty and health

6. somaq - sumac berries - symbolizing (the color of) sunrise

7. serkeh - vinegar - symbolizing age and patience.

 

Other items on the table may include:

 

- Sonbol - Hyacinth (plant)

- Sekkeh - Coins - representative of wealth

- traditional Iranian pastries such as baghlava, toot, naan-nokhodchi

- Aajeel - dried nuts, berries and raisins

- lit candles (enlightenment and happiness)

- a mirror (symbolizing cleanness and honesty)

- decorated eggs, sometimes one for each member of the family (fertility)

- a bowl of water with goldfish (life within life, and the sign of Pisces which the sun is leaving).

- rosewater, believed to have magical cleansing powers

- the national colours, for a patriotic touch

- a holy book (e.g., the Avesta, Qur'an,or Kitáb-i-Aqdas) and/or a poetry book (almost always either the Shahnameh or the Divan of Hafiz)

 

i search these items on Wikipedia . personally i didn't know that "haft sin" doesn't include "sonbol" and "sekkeh" .

we usually have "sa'at" (watch) in "haft sin" too .

 

The traditional herald of the Nowruz season is a man called Hājī Firuz (or Khwāja Piruz). He symbolizes the rebirth of the Sumerian god of sacrifice, Domuzi, who was killed at the end of each year and reborn at the beginning of the New Year. ( i didn't know what he symbolized either )

 

His face is painted black (black is an ancient Persian symbol of good luck) and wears a red costume. Then he sings and dances through the streets with tambourines and trumpets spreading good cheer and heralds the coming of the New Year.

 

New Year dishes

 

Sabzi Polo Mahi: The New Year's Day traditional meal is called Sabzi Polo Mahi, which is rice with green herbs served with fish. The traditional seasoning for Sabzi Polo are parsley, coriander, chives, dill and fenugreek. ( since i'm veggie i never eat it )

 

Reshteh Polo: rice cooked with noodles which is said to symbolically help one succeed in life. ( i never eat it either , unlike sabzi "polo mahi" i never see it before so i'm not sure if this picture is really "reshteh polo" )

Dolme Barg : A traditional dish of Azeri people, cooked just before the new year. It includes some vegetables, meat and rice which have been cooked and embedded in grape leaves and cooked again. It is considered useful in reaching to wishes. ( i didn't know till now that it's one of new year dish !

i eat this and love it . my mom cook it without meat )

Kookoo sabzi : Herbs and vegetable souffle, traditionally served for dinner at New Year. A light and fluffy omelet style made from parsley, dill, coriander, spinach, spring onion ends, and chives, mixed with eggs and walnut.

( didn't know till now that it's one of new year dish !

i know too much about our culture ! )

 

Spring cleaning, or Khouneh Tekouni (literally means 'shaking the house') or 'complete cleaning of the house' is commonly performed before Nowruz. Persians and other Indo-Iranian groups (Kurds, Azarbaijanis and Balochs) start preparing for the Nowruz with a major spring-cleaning of their houses, the purchase of new clothes to wear for the new year .

 

During the Nowruz holidays, people are expected to visit one another (mostly limited to families, friends and neighbors) in the form of short house visits, which are usually reciprocated. Typically, on the first day of Nowruz, family members gather around the table, with the Haft Seen on the table or set next to it, and await the exact moment of the arrival of the spring. At that time gifts are exchanged. ( it's not like Christmas that everyone give each other something . the elders give money to youngsters . it's not necessary to give youngsters a large amount of money . sometimes the amount is very low but the elders sign it . this money isn't meant to spend . others may give money for spending . if they choose to give money for spending the amount usually depends on how close that family member is to you ) Later in the day, the first house visits are paid to the most senior family members. Typically, the youth will visit the elders first, and the elders return their visit later. When in previous year, a family member is deceased, the tradition is to visit that family first (among the elders). The visits naturally have to be relatively short, otherwise one will not be able to visit everybody on their list. A typical visit is around 30 minutes ( in my family there is no way that it be less than 1 hour ! i don't know how we mange to see every one . my mom has 10 siblings and my father has 7 and all of them have lots of children that are old enough to have child and sometimes even grandchild and we have to visit all of them . for us it takes all the 13 days to visit all ) , where you often run into other visiting relatives and friends who happen to be paying a visit to the same house at that time. Because of the house visits, you make sure you have a sufficient supply of pastry, cookies, fresh and dried fruits and special nuts on hand, as you typically serve your visitors with these items with tea or sherbet. Many Iranians will throw large Nowruz parties in a central location as a way of dealing with the long distances between groups of friends and family.

 

Some Nowruz celebrants believe that whatever a person does on Nowruz will affect the rest of the year. So, if a person is warm and kind to their relatives, friends and neighbors on Nowruz, then the new year will be a good one. On the other hand, if there are fights and disagreements, the year will be a bad one. As an extended tradition to the holiday, men may or may not choose to shave their faces until the night of the "New Day" as a sign of removal of old habits and tendencies and the rebirth of their faith and being.

[Macys]

Thanks for sharing! The post was very interesting *__* The dressed eggs look so good and this picture too:

[1978]

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So interesting thread

 

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I think so