In Pictures: Nowruz 1394 celebration in Kabul, Afghanistan
March 22nd, 2015
In Pictures: Nowruz 1394 celebration in Kabul, Afghanistan Today, Afghans celebrated Nowruz in different parts of Kabul. The colorful bollons made the sky shine in colors. Nowruz is a festival that has been celebrated for thousands of years. It is a secular holiday that is enjoyed by people of several different faiths and as such can take on additional interpretations through the lens of religion.
Nowruz celebrates renewal and rebirth, symbolized by the coming of spring. For the Afghan community, however, Nowruz is very special and is known as their spiritual New Year.
After Islam was established in Afghanistan, Nowruz was given a religious aspect. It was dedicated to celebrate the day when the Commander of the faithful Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib (a.s) became the fourth Caliph.
Nowruz is a holiday that is celebrated by people from diverse ethnic communities and religious backgrounds.
. Spring is the beginning of life in nature, the beginning of labor and love to land and birds. Historically, however, Nowruz has been celebrated on March 21 for thousands of years; in fact, it is the earliest-known new year festival in the world’s history.
In celebration of Nowruz, three days of celebration will occur all across Afghanistan including events at many provincial capitals.
When the New Year is just minutes away families and friends gather together and wait for Tahvil to occur. Right after the moment of Nowruz, the family exchanges well wishes such as “Happy New Year” or “Sal-e No Mobarak”.
Haft-Seen is the new year’s traditional table setting, which includes seven items all starting with the letter sīn (س) in the Persian alphabet.
Creating the haft-seen table is a family activity that begins by spreading a special family cloth on the table.
The eldest in the family distributes special sweets and candies to everyone, and young children are given coins as presents.
It is also traditional for families and neighbors to visit each other and exchange special gifts.
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