Parsi New year "Navroz" being celebrated today
- President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday extended greetings to the people on the eve of Parsi New Year, Navroz.
- The Parsi New Year is a regional holiday celebrated on the first day of the Zoroastrian calendar’s first month, Farvardin.
- It is also known as Navroz, which is derived from ‘nav’ and ‘roz’, meaning new and day respectively in Persian.
Parsi New Year
- Parsi New Year is a regional festival being celebrated on August 16 in India.
- It is also known as 'Jamshedi Navroz' after the legendary King of Persia, Jamshed who started the Parsi Calendar and Navroz meaning 'new day'.
History of Parsi New Year
- Parsis follow the religion of Zoroastrianism, one of the oldest known monotheistic religions.
- It was founded by the Prophet Zarathustra in ancient Iran approximately 3,500 years ago.
- It was one of the ancient world's most important religions for over 1000 years and was the official religion of Persia (now Iran) from 650 BCE until the rise of Islam in the 7th century.
- When the Islamic armies invaded Persia, many Zoroastrians migrated, to places such as Gujarat in India and Pakistan.
- Nowadays there are an estimated 2.6 million Zoroastrians worldwide, with the Parsis ('Parsi' being Gujarati for Persian) in India being the largest single group.
- The Parsi New Year, also called Nowruz is the day of repentance for members of Parsi community.
- This day is celebrated with great fervor and while preparing for the celebrations Parsis clean their homes in a bid to start afresh in all aspects of life.
- They regret the mistakes which they had committed the previous year and visit Fire temples.