Parsi New Year/ Navroz Celebrations

Context

Parsi New Year (also called Navroz) is celebrated every year on August 16 by the Parsi Community. 

History

• The beginning of Parsi New Year is believed to date back around 3,5000 years ago.
• This was the time when Prophet Zarathustra founded Zoroastrianism in Persia, Iran. 
• The day, as per Zoroastrian philosophy, marks the annual renewal of everything in the universe. 
• The term Navroz finds its association with Jamshed, an ancient Sasanian king who is believed to have introduced the Parsi calendar. 
• Thus, the festival is also called Jamshed-i-Nouroz.
• Jamshed saved the world from an apocalypse that came in the form of winter and was destined to kill everyone.
• According to scriptures, in the realm of King Jamshed, there was no excessive heat or cold and no premature deaths and everyone lived happily. 
• The festival came to India courtesy of an 18th-century wealthy tradesman from Surat, Nusservanji Kohyaji, who often traveled to Iran and began celebrating Nowruz in India.

Nowruz celebrations in India

• In India, the festival is observed around August 16-17 by the Parsi community following the Shahenshahi calendar which does not account for leap years, which means the holiday has now moved by 200 days from its original day. 
• It is inscribed in the list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of India.