[Reader-list] Nowrooz, a Persian New Year Celebration, Erupts in Iran

[yasir ~يا سر]

half the grammar (hence structure) of farsi and hindustani is also the
same - this link must be quite ancient.

btw, nowruz is celebrated with fervour by most, the islamic/nonislamic
debate is actually totally ignored, and hence only an intellectual
one, or a political point to be scored as it seems in the article.
many customs, older practices, sites, get folded into new globalizing
religions. on the other hand some tribal customs and laws also make it
in and shock the wits out of everyone else___ requiring drastic
measures__



On Wed, Mar 17, 2010 at 1:40 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Kashmiri Pandits celebrate "NAVREH" (equivalent of NOVROZ) on the Vernal Equinox day as per the 'Hindu' lunar calendar.
>
> This year it fell on 16th March = Nowrooz in Iran. Intriguing similarities amongst dissimilarities
>
> The roots of NOWROOZ are said to be in Zoroastrianism. I wonder where the roots of the Kashmiri Pandit festival of NAVREH are. The rituals of Navreh are said to be elaborately described in the Nilmata Puraana.
>
> The Sunni Muslims of Kashmir Valley  do not have any such festival (to the best of my knowledge). The Shia Muslims of Kashmir also celebrate Novroz which presumably is because of the Shia connection with Iran.
>
> Kshmendra
>
> --- On Wed, 3/17/10, Yousuf <ysaeed7 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: Yousuf <ysaeed7 at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [Reader-list] Nowrooz, a Persian New Year Celebration, Erupts in Iran
> To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>, "Indo Persian" <indopersian at yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 8:23 AM
>
>
> Nowrooz, a Persian New Year Celebration, Erupts in Iran
> By JASON REZAIAN / TEHRAN Jason Rezaian / Tehran
>
> For days, state-run television in Iran declared that, for their own safety, citizens should stay home and keep children indoors on the evening of March 16. And indeed, the streets of Iran did erupt into flames. But the opposition to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not organize it. Tuesday evening was the beginning of Nowrooz, the two-week-long traditional Iranian New Year celebration, which for more than three millenniums marked the beginning of spring in the Persian world. The popular holiday, celebrated with bonfires and, more recently, illegal fireworks, is so hoary it predates the three Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - a fact that the mullahs who rule Iran are quite sensitive about. One ayatullah, Nasser Makarem Shirazi, called the first day of Nowrooz a "superstitious act and baseless. Pious and sensible Muslims will stay away from it."
>
> From the time the sun set Tuesday evening, Tehran was filled with the sounds of small explosions and the smell of smoke. Police and Basij militia presence throughout the city was as high as it has been at any point since last year's controversial presidential election, but for the most part, the law-enforcement officers remained cool,