In news– The Parsi community celebrated Navroz on 16 August 2022 in India.
History of Navroz-
- The Parsi New Year i.e. the festival of Navroz or Nowroz falls between July and August where ‘Nav’ in Persian stands for ‘new’ while ‘Roz’ means ‘day’ that literally translates to ‘new day’.
- This tradition of celebrating Parsi New Year is believed to have been observed by Iranians and Zorastian for the past 3,000 years as it marks the beginning of the Iranian calendar and is celebrated till date by the Parsi community around the world with great pomp and show.
- The festival of Navroz or Jamshed-i-Navroz/Jamshed-i-Nouroz is named after the Persian king, Jamshed, who is credited for creating the Persian or the Shahenshahi calendar.
- King Jamshed used a throne studded with precious gems and rose to the heavens on the shoulders of demons where he shone brighter than the sun hence, a new day was born which was named as Navroz.
- As per the legend, Jamshed saved the world from an apocalypse that came in the form of a winter and was destined to kill everyone.
- Though celebrated in March globally, Navroz arrives 200 days later in India and is celebrated in the month of August as the Parsis here follow the Shahenshahi calendar that doesn’t account for leap years.
- Interestingly in India, people celebrate it twice a year – first according to the Iranian calendar and the second according to the Shahenshahi calendar which is followed by people in India and in Pakistan(it is observed on 21st March across the world).
- The most prominent Navroz celebrations take place in Maharashtra and Gujarat in India on account of a sizable Parsi population living in the two states.
- Parsis also visit the Agiary or the Fire Temple and offer fruits, sandalwood, milk and flowers to the fire on this auspicious day.
Parsi community-
- Parsi are a group of followers in India of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster (or Zarathustra).
- The Parsis, whose name means “Persians,” are descended from Persian Zoroastrians who emigrated to India to avoid religious persecution by Muslims.
- They live mainly in Mumbai and in a few towns and villages mostly to the north of Mumbai, but also in Karachi (Pakistan) and Bengaluru (Karnataka, India).
- Although they are not, strictly speaking, a caste, since they are not Hindus, they form a well-defined community.
- According to tradition, the Parsis initially settled at Hormuz on the Persian Gulf, but finding themselves still persecuted they set sail for India, arriving in the 8th century.
- The migration may in fact have taken place as late as the 10th century, or in both.
They settled first at Diu in Kāthiāwār but soon moved to Gujarāt, where they remained for about 800 years as a small agricultural community.
Source: Hindustan Times
