New Delhi: Honouring the Persian spring festival, Nowruz, the Google Doodle on March 20 is of flowers blossoms and the Iranian instrument Tar. Nowruz is a 13-day celebration and begins with the vernal equinox when the sun crosses the equator.


Nowruz is considered to be one of the oldest festivals in history, dating back to 3000 years. The festival symbolizes rebirth and the affirmation of life in harmony with nature. The word Nowruz is derived from a combination of Persian words now-meaning 'new' and ruz-meaning 'day'. 


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Nowruz is rooted in the tradition of Iranian religions like Mithraism and Zoroastrianism. Iranian mythology, the foundation of Nowruz is credited to Iranian King Jamshid by the Shahnameh, a long epic poem by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between 977 and 1010 CE. According to the poem, King Jamshid to save mankind from the winter - which is destined to kill every living creature - built a throne of gems, he had demons raise him to the heavens where he sat like the Sun. 

The beginning of the festival holds common traditions like deep-cleaning the house, visiting friends, neighbours and preparing traditional dishes like fish and special desserts. On the day of Nowruz, people around the world put on festivals, feasts and enjoy outdoor activities.


Though around the world the Nowruz festival is celebrated around March 20, the Parsi community in India celebrates it in August this is because they follow the Shahenshahi calendar which does not account for leap years. However, most of the traditions remain the same.