For this, God freed people from diseases, wars, and death and, at the same time, increased the Earth threefold. However, diseases later returned; whether the Earth shrank – I don’t know, but the holiday remained. Welcome to spring Uzbekistan for Navruz!
Navruz is an ancient holiday, more than two and a half thousand years old. It falls on March 21 – the day of the new year according to the solar calendar. It is celebrated almost everywhere where Turkic and Iranian peoples live. Hence, the traditions of celebration are very diverse.
One thing is common – on this day it is customary to do good deeds, give gifts, forgive debts and grievances, receive guests at a richly laid table, and rejoice in the revival of nature after a winter that is quite relative by our standards.
In the classic version, which is strictly observed perhaps only in Iran, Navruz is celebrated for 13 days, each with its own ritual. In other regions, a somewhat more compact celebration regimen is adopted.
As you meet the New Year, so you will spend it
Unlike our New Year, Navruz is celebrated during the day. On the eve, before dawn, you need to finish all your tasks. Houses are thoroughly cleaned and painted. Homes are decorated with flowering branches of apricot, pomegranate, cherry, and almond. For our eyes, tired of the monochrome of the long Russian winter, it is a true feast.
In Uzbekistan, they believe – whoever has cleanliness in the house has order in the soul. Slobs have not the slightest chance of attracting the attention of good spirits.
Preparations for the festive feast last all night. The main dish of Navruz is sumalak. It is made from ground sprouted wheat grains, flour, and cottonseed oil with added spices. All this simmers in a huge cauldron over an open fire. Neighbors gather around the cauldron, take turns stirring the mixture, chat, and sing songs. Passersby are treated to fragrant tea. If there is no fun and good mood, songs and cheerful stories around the cauldron, the dish will turn out tasteless.
The ritual lasts at least 12 hours. This task is traditionally female, although nowadays men can be seen at the cauldron. To be honest, the dish does not look very appetizing. But it is quite edible and very sweet, even though no sugar is added at all during preparation.
In the morning, still warm sumalak is offered to all relatives and neighbors. You can try to make a wish. They say it will come true. You will be very lucky if you bite into a walnut in its shell or a pebble – they are thrown into the cauldron to prevent sumalak from burning. In that case, your wish will definitely come true.
Another traditional treat at Navruz is kok-samsa. These are fried in oil or baked in a tandyr pies with a filling of spinach, horse sorrel, spring onion, mint, and shoots of other steppe herbs.
Also necessarily prepared are shurpa, layered samsa, boiled lamb or beef, halim, and festively decorated pilaf. The decoration of the pilaf depends entirely on the imagination and wealth of the hosts – from herbs and horse sausage to stuffed quail.
For dessert, they prepare nisholda – egg whites whipped with sugar and spicy roots. Fruits, nuts, and sweets must be on the table. The dastarkhan should be abundant and varied, the guests full and happy. Then the year will be fruitful, and everything will be well in the home.
The festive table is decorated with a large dish of pre-sprouted wheat shoots. Earlier, a week before Navruz, all available types of grains were soaked in water. Based on which ones sprouted best, they determined what to plant in the field in the new year. Now it is more of a symbol of the holiday, like our New Year tree.
And in conclusion of the gastronomic excursion, I must tell you that no matter how well Uzbek dishes are prepared in the best metropolitan restaurants, they are still tastier here.
Kupkari and other entertainment
In large cities, Navruz is celebrated colorfully and on a grand scale. With a touch of pageantry. At stadiums, concert venues, and parks – folk dance ensembles and athletes. Fairs with souvenirs, handicrafts, and sweets. In the dazzling sky – huge bright balloons in the shape of tulips and other flowers.
However, there are also many street performers. But the main thing is the chance to come across an Uzbek street puppet theater, preserved almost unchanged since medieval times.
Navruz is celebrated more traditionally in remote kishlaks. Here you can see not puppet shows but cockfights or ram fights. For the traditional equestrian competition for a goat carcass, kupkari or goat dragging, prominent horsemen from several regions of the country gather.
It is a whole science to choose the right horse for such a competition – it must be hardy and short-legged. Otherwise, the carcass dropped by an opponent in the heat of battle cannot be lifted from the ground. During such a competition, it is allowed to strike opponents with a whip. Therefore, the riders' equipment, from a thick quilted robe to a special helmet, is prepared very carefully. Kupkari is at least a memorable spectacle. Passionate people, I tell you, live in Uzbekistan!
Each district or even kishlak may have its own traditions. Somewhere, marriageable girls tell fortunes on Navruz by throwing shoes over their heads in a special way. How they manage to determine from the flight of the shoe whether they will get married soon, honestly, I don’t know. But they all leave satisfied and happy.
In other places, on the eve of the holiday, you should eavesdrop on other people's conversations. Heard a kind conversation – your year will be successful. Came across a quarrel – well, don't eavesdrop, the year will be so-so.
Fairs, collective dawn greetings with the whole kishlak with songs and dances, dousing passersby with water, jumping over a bonfire – all this is meant to create a good mood for the next twelve months.
A little about etiquette
If you find yourself in Uzbekistan during Novruz, it is almost impossible to stay without an invitation to visit. The people of this country are extremely hospitable. It is not customary to refuse an invitation. It is better not to be late, as the lovingly prepared dishes risk getting cold, and the hosts will be upset.
If possible, bring souvenirs and sweets for children; there are children in every family, and in abundance. You can give flowers. But here it is better to be careful, as in the East every flower carries some symbolic meaning.
However, you will certainly not go wrong with tulips. They signify that the guest came with good wishes. Gifted flowering tree branches will bring material well-being to the family, and incense will surely attract good spirits to the house.
If you possess a poetic gift and write a traditional tarkiband message with good wishes for the new year or a bacchic khamriyyat song, then wild success is guaranteed. The ability to compose poetry in the East is an unmistakable sign of refined upbringing.
It is considered completely improper to give expensive gifts to those of higher rank. Unlike in Russia, such an act is not seen as sycophancy or a bribe, but as a claim to equality and pride. On the other hand, the powerful of this world should, on the contrary, give gifts to the poor and needy.
Men can be greeted with a handshake; women should bow slightly, placing the right hand on the chest. It is good manners to inquire about the health of all family members, household and work affairs. And do not forget to take off your shoes upon entering. If the host seats you in the farthest corner, do not rush to be upset. The farther from the entrance, the more honorable the place.
Now you are completely ready for the trip. Novruz is truly worth seeing with your own eyes. This Zoroastrian tradition survived the Islamization of the region, the Soviet era when the holiday was banned as a religious relic of the past. Whether it will survive globalization, we will see. But I would not advise you to wait long.