Celebrating Navruz, the Spring Jubilee

Communities gather to prepare sweetmeats, spring clean their neighbourhoods and play equestrian games.

Celebrating Navruz, the Spring Jubilee

Communities gather to prepare sweetmeats, spring clean their neighbourhoods and play equestrian games.

Women dance to mark Navruz in Baysun, a village in Uzbekistan’s south-eastern region of Surkhandarya. The village is known for its festival, the Baysun Bahori, meaning Spring of Baysun.
Women dance to mark Navruz in Baysun, a village in Uzbekistan’s south-eastern region of Surkhandarya. The village is known for its festival, the Baysun Bahori, meaning Spring of Baysun. © Abdulkhak Turgunov
Sprouted grain is a symbol of Navruz andit can be found on every table in the communities marking the festivity, from the Balkans to Central Asia. Shoots are usually of wheat, but they can also be of barley or lentils, and are an auspicious symbol for abundant harvest and prosperity. Grown on a plate, they are the centrepiece of all Navruz tables.
Sprouted grain is a symbol of Navruz andit can be found on every table in the communities marking the festivity, from the Balkans to Central Asia. Shoots are usually of wheat, but they can also be of barley or lentils, and are an auspicious symbol for abundant harvest and prosperity. Grown on a plate, they are the centrepiece of all Navruz tables. © Abdulkhak Turgunov
Women sing and play the doira, Uzbekistan’s national musical instrument. A tambourine-like instrument, the doira has a medium-sized frame with a tightly stretched membrane and jingles attached. Also known as daf, it is considered one of Central Asia’s most ancient percussive instruments and it was originally played only by women during shamanic rituals.
Women sing and play the doira, Uzbekistan’s national musical instrument. A tambourine-like instrument, the doira has a medium-sized frame with a tightly stretched membrane and jingles attached. Also known as daf, it is considered one of Central Asia’s most ancient percussive instruments and it was originally played only by women during shamanic rituals. © Abdulkhak Turgunov
A folk ensemble performs during Navruz.
A folk ensemble performs during Navruz. © Abdulkhak Turgunov
Traditionally cooked only by women, sumalak’s origins are shrouded in legend. According to one Uzbek story, a poor woman, needing to feed her four children, put river pebbles and a bunch of grass in her biggest cauldron and cooked it for a long time so that her kids would fall asleep without asking for food. She also fell asleep and when she woke up found the cauldron full of a brown, sweet and nourishing paste. She thought that angels, witnessing her plight, decided to help her. She fed her children and sh
Traditionally cooked only by women, sumalak’s origins are shrouded in legend. According to one Uzbek story, a poor woman, needing to feed her four children, put river pebbles and a bunch of grass in her biggest cauldron and cooked it for a long time so that her kids would fall asleep without asking for food. She also fell asleep and when she woke up found the cauldron full of a brown, sweet and nourishing paste. She thought that angels, witnessing her plight, decided to help her. She fed her children and shared the food with neighbours, a custom which remains today. © Abdulkhak Turgunov
A large bonfire welcomed Navruz in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe on the night of March 21, 2023. In villages and towns across the countries marking the celebration, people jump over small fires to symbolise a leap from the past towards the future.
A large bonfire welcomed Navruz in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe on the night of March 21, 2023. In villages and towns across the countries marking the celebration, people jump over small fires to symbolise a leap from the past towards the future. © Abdurakhmon Rakhmonov
 A man dances near the Navruz bonfire, in central Dushanbe.
A man dances near the Navruz bonfire, in central Dushanbe. © Abdurakhmon Rakhmonov
Women stirring large quantities of sumalak in Dushanbe. One legend about the dish involves a farmer, who moistened wheat grains as he prepared to sow. The grains sprouted, so he asked his wife to cook them so they would not go to waste. After a long boil, the dish turned into the sweet paste still eaten today.
Women stirring large quantities of sumalak in Dushanbe. One legend about the dish involves a farmer, who moistened wheat grains as he prepared to sow. The grains sprouted, so he asked his wife to cook them so they would not go to waste. After a long boil, the dish turned into the sweet paste still eaten today. © Abdurakhmon Rakhmonov
Women sell plates of sumalak at a Navruz fair in Dushanbe.
Women sell plates of sumalak at a Navruz fair in Dushanbe. © Abdurakhmon Rakhmonov
Women sing and play the doira, also known as daf. The tambourine-like instrument has a frame with a tightly stretched membrane and jingles attached.
Women sing and play the doira, also known as daf. The tambourine-like instrument has a frame with a tightly stretched membrane and jingles attached. © Abdurakhmon Rakhmonov
A buzkashi competition in a field in Vahdat, a suburb of Dushanbe. In Tajikistan’s traditional equestrian sport, common also in Afghanistan, men on horseback take the carcass of a dead goat from each other and throw it into a goal.
A buzkashi competition in a field in Vahdat, a suburb of Dushanbe. In Tajikistan’s traditional equestrian sport, common also in Afghanistan, men on horseback take the carcass of a dead goat from each other and throw it into a goal. © Abdurakhmon Rakhmonov
 A Tajik woman in traditional clothes plays the daf, or doira, a tambourine-like instrument with jingles, played across Central Asia.
A Tajik woman in traditional clothes plays the daf, or doira, a tambourine-like instrument with jingles, played across Central Asia. © Abdurakhmon Rakhmonov
Tajik women sit at a covered dastarkhan, a traditional space where food is eaten. It comes from the Turkic word meaning tablecloth.
Tajik women sit at a covered dastarkhan, a traditional space where food is eaten. It comes from the Turkic word meaning tablecloth. © Abdurakhmon Rakhmonov
Tajik young women in national clothes.
Tajik young women in national clothes. © Abdurakhmon Rakhmonov
Wednesday, 5 April, 2023
CABAR

CABAR

The Central Asian Bureau for Analytical Reporting is a project of IWPR

People across Central Asia  - and beyond - have been celebrating a 3,000-year-old tradition marking the new year and ushering in spring. 

Navruz means “new day” in Farsi and is also spelled Nowvruz or Novruz. Celebrated from the Balkans to Central Asia, the festivity transcends religion, cultures and nationalities and is so significant that in 2016 it was added to UNESCO’s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. 

In Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent, women prepared cauldrons full of sumalak, the traditional nougat-like sweet paste that is key to the celebration. In Tajikistan crowds gathered on the outskirts of Dushanbe for games of buzkashi, a traditional equestrian sport. 

Navruz survived decades of Soviet-imposed bans and after the break-up of the USSR it became an official holiday across the newly independent states of Central Asia. 

“We gathered in a large family circle, together with the grandparents, all relatives,” said Muhaye Saidova, a resident of Tashkent’s Ahmad Yugnakiy mahalla (neighbourhood), recalling how her family marked it during the Soviet era despite an official ban.

“We cooked sumalak in large cauldrons,” she continued. “Children and adults sat together, eating, drinking, singing songs. Our grandparents would tell stories from their past. So, we children learned about our ancestors, for example, how one of my great-grandfathers performed the hajj on horseback. It was very interesting. We, children, were not forced to go to bed, we could fall asleep on our grandmother's lap right at the dastarkhan [traditional table covered with delicacies].”

On March 21, the day of the spring equinox, Uzbekistan announces a nationwide khashar, a volunteer action where people get together to clean courtyards and streets and to bring items to orphanages and nursing homes. Khashar unites the young and the old and the elderly believe that nothing connects people more than working together and relaxing together afterwards.

Navruz is also a celebration of family: houses are given a thorough spring clean, trees are planted, new clothes are sewn, traditional dishes are cooked and kitchens are filled with laughter. 

The preparation lasts several days and celebrations go well beyond the spring equinox: in Tajikistan the holiday lasts a whole week. 

On the night of Navruz, people jump over large bonfires set up in villages to symbolise a leap from the past towards the future. On the feast day, tables are covered with homemade delicacies like samosa with herbs, stuffed pirozhki buns and creamy nisholda, a sweet paste made from beaten egg whites. 

Towns and villages organise concerts, street parties, folk festivals, artisanal fairs and sport competitions. Buzkashi matches, known as kopkari in Uzbekistan, are common across the region: a crowd of horsemen compete to grab a lamb or goat carcass from the ground.

This publication was prepared under the "Amplify, Verify, Engage (AVE) Project" implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway.

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