March of every year is a new day, a new start; it’s the month when the barren soil begins to bear vegetation after long and captive winters. The earth begins to regain its lost treasure when the red rose finally comes out of the frozen land. Mother Nature starts dancing with joy because this is the time for her to reign back the kingdom of beauty again.
Joy! Exhilaration! Unexplainable Euphoria! The sun is brighter, and the warmth is more comfortable. Instead of the dark thundering clouds, now the blue sky is embracing the land below. The sweet, sweet smell of rained soil, the singing of rivers, the humming of birds, the fresh gale, worms of thousands of types creeping out of their nest, tiny creatures stretching their backs to play around.
All of the above are signs that indicate that this is the very right time to welcome the arrival of spring. Since everything now seems alive and happy, it’s time to celebrate. This is the time that makes people all around the globe succumb to the reality that the exhausted winters are over and, by the grace of God, they are alive to witness the blossoms.
Though the arrival of spring is celebrated in many parts of the world as Nawroz (a new day), like in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, somehow in India, and many other countries, it has its own colors in Gilgit Baltistan, especially in Hunza and Yasin, where it is celebrated as one of the most ritual festivals.
On March 21, every year, Nouroz is celebrated in Hunza and Yasin. It is celebrated with a big family gathering, gift giving, the eating of symbolic foods, and the display of festive decorations, all focused on bringing good luck for the New Year and celebrating the coming of spring. Though Nawroz is celebrated on the same day and the purpose of the festival in both regions is the same (to welcome the spring and reinvigorate themselves for the coming year), the way of celebration is quite different. Both regions have their own traditional ways of performing the festival.
Nawroz in Hunza
Nawroz is pronounced as Geenani in Hunza. Early in the morning on March 21, the people of Hunza gather at one platform to perform prayers. The purpose of this obligation is to thank Almighty for the year that has passed in joy and to ask for health, wealth, love, and succession in their work in the year ahead of them.
Once the prayer is done, the people of Hunza embrace each other with happiness, wishing one another a happy Nawroz. After that, tea with chapatti is served to them in the prayer hall. All of this happens before dawn.
Here are some of the customs associated with the celebrations of Nawroz in Hunza.
Cleaning of houses, lighting of streets, and new clothes
Prior to the day, it is mandatory for all the families to thoroughly clean their houses and all the streets around them. After that, near dusk, all the streets are decorated with fairy lights and charagh (a traditional candle-type thing lit and prepared with kerosene oil and sometimes with animal fat). Apart from the streets, the same Charagh is also ablaze in the nearby mountains as a symbol of happiness.
Everyone buys new clothes for themselves. The senior citizens put on a cultural overcoat called Chogha, made from sheep wool.
Local bands and traditional dance
bands with singers are invited to entertain the public. The air is filled with songs related to the event. A special melody called (haang) is created by the band, upon which all the men perform local dance, all the ladies clapping for them.
Food/dishes
Dishes of many types are cooked and served to neighbors with sweets. A local dish is cooked, called Harrisa, with meat boiled in water, in one place and distributed to every house.
Special activities for women and children
There is a creepy, yet more interesting, cultural activity for women and children. A rope is hung from a big tree on a field as a swing, and one by one, every participant is given a time of 3–5 minutes to enjoy the swing. While swinging, they made this strange sound calling for some fairies to bestow fertility on their land so they could have a good crop. This was all about Nawroz in Hunza. Now we will discuss Nawroz in Yasin.
Nawroz in Yasin
Nawroz is called Boh in Yasin. The same prayer is also done in Yasin as in Hunza, early in the morning. Cleaning of houses, lighting streets, and buying new clothes are also done in Yasin at Nawroz. But some of the customs differ from those of Hunza, i.e Plugging in fields. At Boh, a small amount of wheat is sown in the area, which is to be used for agricultural purposes, and after this, the proper plugging of fields begins.
Decorating the house
Another popular custom in Yasin is house decoration. In Yasin, decorating the roof of the house with different designs is also commonplace. A thin iron bar is folded into different shapes that are ripped by a special kind of cloth and tied to a long handle of wood. This creation is called Asskaranginas in the Yasini language. After that, it is dipped into a floor called Khorzang and assaulted against the roof like BOOM, and here it is: the design is now copied and pasted to the roof.
Special food/dishes
Different varieties of traditional dishes like Makuti, Sharbat, and Halwa are baked and sent to the dear and near ones with many other gifts.
