THE NOROUZ TRADITION IN SOUTHERN AZERBAIJAN
Norouz is the first day of the year according to the Iranian
calendar and is a day regarded as the beginning of spring
when the sun is on Aries. This first day of the new year is
called Norouz, which means “new day”. Essentially Norouz is
the day when the hibernating animals come out from the soil
and all the living beings say “hi” to spring. According to
an ancient calendar the twenty first day of March, which is
regarded as the first day of the year and spring, is called
Norouz.
Norouz is a wide-spread feast celebrated in the Turkish
world in a vast geography extending from the north to the
south and the west to the east. All the feasts are believed
to have emerged from a religious or a national belief, a
common memory of that specific community, or from
traditions, feelings or incidents brought about by mother
nature effecting people. In Southern Azerbaijan the Norouz
celebrations begin on March 21 and generally last for 13
days.
The Norouz Feast is regarded as special by the Southern
Azerbaijanis and is one of the oldest traditions. This old
tradition is celebrated differently in all the regions in
Southern Azerbaijan. The people of Southern Azerbaijan start
cleaning their houses in the last days of winter and call
this “house emptying”. It is a tradition to buy new
households and clothes for all the members of the family
during this occasion. It is also a tradition to wet lentils
and wheat and place them on a tray and leave them to become
green just a few days before the new year. These vegetables
are later cooked and put on the “Norouz table”. According to
an ancient tradition 7 objects starting with the letter S
are put on the Norouz table. Each of these objects
represents the concepts which we desire the most in our
lives.
In Southern Azerbaijan the houses of the mourning relatives
and acquaintances are visited and white shirts for men and
colorful dresses for women are taken as presents on the
Norouz feast. The black dress of the mourning person is
changed with the ones brought as presents. What lies beneath
this tradition is the earnest desire to start the new year
in a cheerful manner. It is a custom in Southern Azerbaijan
to visit cemeteries on the last Thursday of the year and to
pray for the souls of the dead ones. Just a few hours before
the new year the Norouz table opens and a Quran, a clock, a
mirror, sardines or hyacinth flower, a fish in a jar,
various fruits (especially apple), garlic, vinegar,
desserts, coins and similar other materials are placed on
it. Finally the time for new year arrives and everyone in
the house sits at the table.
While the head of the family sits at the new year table,
which is prepared on different hours every year, sends out
his heartfelt desire for everyone to have a healthy and a
successful year and distributes the ‘first money’ of the
year, which was until then staying in the Quran on the
table, to the other members of the family. Later, the young
ones visit their elders and as is the custom in every feast,
those who have been mad at each other make peace with one
another. This traffic between the relatives, acquaintances
and neighbors continue for 13 days. These days are even more
cheerful for the kids in Southern Azerbaijan because they
collect lots of presents and money during this occasion.
Among the presents are painted and colored eggs. The people
of Southern Azerbaijan regard the 13th day of the
feast as ill-omened and try to pass the day out of their
homes.
Some Azerbaijani poets like Shah Ismail Khatayi and Fouzuli
have many works of art on spring and Norouz. The “jasmine”
flower, which is one of the symbols of Norouz, is attributed
great importance in Southern Azerbaijan. There are many folk
songs and proverbs on this particular flower. Another
flower, which is attributed to the arrival of spring, is a
snow flower called “snowdrop”.
We paint the egg colorfully
We bang them to each other and peel them off
We play with them until we are satisfied
Ali gave me a green purlin
Riza picked up Norouz rose for me
Shahryar
