Out Of The Borders Traditions
Newroz Celebration
The History of a common celebration in Central Asia
by Sercan Yıldırım
Newroz is a celebration symbolized by each nation with its own cultural values and ex-
presses the arrival of spring. It is celebrated with the local colours and beliefs in a wide region from Central Asia to the Balkans. Through celebrations vary, people generally gather together to welcome the coming of spring; they wear coloured clothes and dance together.
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In Kurdish, the word “Newroz” means New (New)
Zuhak 2500 years ago. According to the legend, the king had a snake on both shoulders and he had two Kurdish young people brought to his palace every day to feed them and had them killed. Because of this savagery, the king also prevented the arrival of spring. Finally, two people, Armayel and Garmayel, who wanted to do something to get rid of this persecution, entered the king’s palace as a cook. They kill only one of the children to feed the king’s snakes and help others to sneak out of the palace. Thus, they mix a human with a sheep and give it to the snakes and save a child every day. It is believed that people who can escape from the palace are the ancestors of the Kurds, and they were secretly trained by the blacksmith named Kawa to become warriors. Thus, these warriors, led by Kawa, marched to the tyrant’s palace on March 20 and managed to kill the king with hammer blows. Kawa burns fires on all the hills around and celebrates this victory together. Thus, the Kurdish people would be freed from the cruel king and spring would come the next day.
and Roz (Day, daylight) is a combination of the two words. Its original meaning is accepted as New Day Light in many sources. When it comes to the historical origins of Newroz, it is seen that it has a history that goes back about 4350 years. Nowruz is a sacred day especially for Zoroastrianism and Bahai community and, furthermore, it is celebrated as a holiday. The celebration coincides with the March equinox which usually falls on the 21st of March and or somewhere between the 18th and 24th of March. In addition, it is considered as the first day of the year in some In Kurdish legend, the holiday celebrates the Kurdish sources. Moreover, it is also believed to deliverance of the Kurds from a tyrant, and it is be based on the legend of the Blacksmith Kawa in Kurdish and Iranian mythology.
The legend of the Blacksmith Kawa is mentioned as follows: According to the Kawa legend in Kurdish mythology, there was a blacksmith named Kawa who lived under a cruel king of Assyria named
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