Nowruz[a] is the beginning ofspringtime and a cultural holiday inAfghanistan.[1][2] It is also celebrated by the majority of theAfghan diaspora around the world.[3][4]Farmer's Day,[5][6] which starts around the same time as the Afghan New Year,[7] is celebrated nationwide alongside Nowruz and usually lasts around two weeks. Among other things, the celebration involves planting saplings and flowers throughout the country.[8][9]
Some Afghans,[10] including members of theTaliban and their supporters, do not observe Nowruz traditions.[11] In 1985,Radio Television Afghanistan aired a Persian play to commemorate and promote Nowruz.[12] Under the 1990sTaliban rule, Nowruz was banned "due to the thought that it was a pagan holiday centered onfire worship."[13][14] After thefall of Kabul in 2021, theIslamic Emirate of Afghanistan officially cancelled the holiday, but clarified that they will not prevent people from celebrating it privately.[15]
Preparations for Nowruz start several days beforehand, at least afterChaharshanbe Suri, the last Wednesday before the New Year. Among various traditions and customs, the most important ones are listed below (in alphabetical order):
Guli Surkh festival (Dari:ميلهٔ گل سرخ;lit.'Red Flower Festival', referring to the redTulip flowers) is the principal festival for Nowruz. It is celebrated in Mazar-i- Sharif during the first 40 days of the year when the Tulip flowers grow in the green plains and on the hills surrounding the city. People from all over the country travel to Mazar-i-Sharif to attend the Nowruz festivals.
Jahanda Bala (Dari:جهنده بالا) is celebrated on the first day of the New Year (i.e. Nowruz). It is a specific religious ceremony performed in specific mosques. The ceremony is performed by raising a special banner whose color configuration resemblesDerafsh Kaviani.[17] This is the biggest recorded Nowruz gathering where up to 200,000 people from all over Afghanistan get together in Mazar-i-Sharif's central park around the Blue Mosque to celebrate the banner raising (Jahanda Bala) ceremony.
Kampirak (Dari:کمپیرک): Like "Amu Nowruz" in Iran, he is an old bearded man wearing colorful clothes with a long hat and rosary who symbolizes beneficence and the power of nature yielding the forces of winter. He and his retinue pass village by village distributing gathered charities among people and do shows like reciting poems. The tradition is observed in central provinces speciallyBamyan andDaykundi.[18]
Samanak (Dari:سمنک) is a special type of sweet dish made fromgerminated wheat, and is normally cooked or prepared on the eve of Nowruz or a few days before. Women have a special party for it during the night, and cook it from late in the evening till daylight, singing a special song:Samanak dar Josh o mā Kafcha zanem – Dochtaran* dar Khwāb o mā Dafcha zanem (* Dochter means daughter, young lady or girl).
Sightseeing to Cercis fields: The citizens ofKabul go toIstalif,Charikar or other green places where theCercis flowers grow. They go for a picnic with their family during the first two weeks of the new year.
^Petty Officer 1st Class Richard Wolff (March 22, 2012)."Nowruz celebrated in Mazar-e Sharif". Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. Retrieved2023-01-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
