Nowruz in Pakistan

This festival is like Nowruz of Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia.Peoples of Gilgit Baltistan are called gbians (gbians, gb people, Balti) In Northern Pakistan (Chitral, Gilgit, Baltistan) because of Ismaili Majority, population there, and Northern Punjab Nowruz is celebrated as a socio-religious festival. It is also celebrated with much fervour in Balochistan, and in almost all of Pakistan’s major urban centres . The day coincides with the Spring Equinox on March 21, but the celebration continues for weeks. In Baltistan, the main features of Nowruz are the giving of coloured eggs to friends signifying the earth and polo matches. In Balochistan, the festival is marked with outdoor feasts, and the traditional jumping over a fire to wash away sins and usher in a fresh start. The origins of this festival are pre-Islamic and date back to when Pakistan was part of the Achaemenid and Sassanid Persian empires.
It is a part of Burusho people’s culture.
The UN’s General Assembly in 2010 recognized March 21 as the International Day of Nowruz, describing it a spring festival of Persian origin which has been celebrated for over 3,000 years and calling on world countries to draw on the holiday’s rich history to promote peace and goodwill. During the meeting of The Inter-governmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage of the United Nations, held between 28 September – 2 October 2009 in Abu Dhabi, Nowrūz was officially registered on the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In response to the UN recognition, Iran unveiled a postage stamp. The stamp was made public in the presence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the first International Nowruz Celebrations in Tehran on Saturday, 27 March 2010. President Ahmadinejad also called for joint efforts to further acquaint the world about the meaningful holiday, adding that it could significantly promote global peace and justice: “Observing Norooz will not only promote cultural values, but it will also help nations establish relations based on friendship, peace, justice and respect.”
The second International Nowruz Celebrations were also held in Tehran in 2011. The 3rd International Nowruz Celebrations were held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on March 25, 2012 with Tajik President and his Iranian, Afghan counterparts in attendance. Turkmenistan is scheduled to host the next international ceremonies to celebrate Nowruz.

A variety of spelling variations for the word “Norooz” exist in English-language usage. Random House (unabridged) provides the spelling “nowruz”. Merriam-Webster (2006) recognizes only the spelling “nauruz” (and a contestant in the final session of the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee, Allion Salvador, in the United States was disqualified on that basis . In the USA, many respected figures in the field of language such as Dr. Yarshater at Columbia University have suggested to use Nowruz.

Nowruz – Persian New Year – Nowruz around the world

Nowruz (Persian: نوروز‎, IPA: [nouˈɾuːz], meaning ” The  New Day”) is the name of the Iranian New Year in the Solar Hijri calendar. Nowruz is also referred to as the Persian New Year.

 

Nowruz marks the first day of spring or Equinox as and the beginning of the year in the Persian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical Northward equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. The moment the sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year and families gather together to observe the rituals.

Nowruz is celebrated by people from diverse ethnic communities and religious backgrounds for thousands of years. It is a secular holiday that is enjoyed by people of several different faiths. It originated in Persia in one of the capitals of the Achaemenid empire in Persis (Fars) in Iran and is also celebrated by the cultural region that came under Iranian influence or had migrations by Persians including Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and other scattered populations in Central Asia. The distinct culture based on the language, food, music and leisure activities that developed among the many people and ethnic groups who lived in this area are known as Persians.
Nowruz is partly rooted in the religious tradition of Zoroastrianism. Among other ideas, Zoroastrianism is the first monotheistic religion that emphasizes broad concepts such as the corresponding work of good and evil in the world, and the connection of humans to nature. Zoroastrian practices were dominant for much of the history of ancient Persia (centered in what is now Iran). Nowruz is believed to have been invented by Zoroaster himself, although there is no clear date of origin.Since the Achaemenid era the official year has begun with the New Day when the Sun leaves the zodiac of Pisces and enters the zodiacal sign of Aries, signifying the Spring Equinox. Nowruz is also a holy day for Sufi Muslims, Bektashis, Ismailis, Alawites,Alevis, Babis and adherents of the Bahá’í Faith.
The term Nowruz in writing first appeared in historical Persian records in the 2nd century AD, but it was also an important day during the time of the Achaemenids (c. 550–330 BCE), where kings from different nations under the Persian Empire used to bring gifts to the Emperor, also called King of Kings (Shahanshah), of Persia on Nowruz. The significance of Nowruz in the Achaemenid Empire was such that the great Persian king Cambyses II’s appointment as the king of Babylon was legitimized only after his participation in the New Year festival (Nowruz).
The UN’s General Assembly in 2010 recognized the International Day of Nowruz, describing it as a spring festival of Persian origin which has been celebrated for over 3,000 years.During the meeting of The Inter-governmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage of the United Nations, held between 28 September – 2 October 2009 in Abu Dhabi, Nowrūz was officially registered on the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
In c. the 11th century CE major reforms of Iranian calendars took place and whose principal purpose was to fix the beginning of the calendar year, i.e. Nowrūz, at the vernal equinox. Accordingly, the definition of Nowruz given by the Iranian scientist Ṭūsī was the following: “the first day of the official new year [Nowruz] was always the day on which the sun entered Aries before noon
The celebration has its roots in Ancient Iran. Due to its antiquity, there exist various foundation myths for Nowruz in Iranian mythology. In the Zoroastrian tradition, the seven most important Zoroastrian festivals are the Gahambars and Nowruz, which occurs at the spring equinox.
“ It seems a reasonable surmise that Nowruz, the holiest of them all, with deep doctrinal significance, was founded by Zoroaster himself. ”
Between sunset of the day of the 6th Gahanbar and sunrise of Nowruz was celebrated Hamaspathmaedaya (later known, in its extended form, as Frawardinegan). This and the Gahanbar are the only festivals named in the surviving text of the Avesta.
The Shahnameh, dates Nowruz as far back to the reign of Jamshid, who in Zoroastrian texts saved mankind from a killer winter that was destined to kill every living creature. The mythical Persian King Jamshid (Yima or Yama of the Indo-Iranian lore) perhaps symbolizes the transition of the Indo-Iranians from animal hunting to animal husbandry and a more settled life in human history. In the Shahnameh and Iranian mythology, he is credited with the foundation of Nowruz. In the Shahnama, Jamshid constructed a throne studded with gems. He had demons raise him above the earth into the heavens; there he sat on his throne like the sun shining in the sky. The world’s creatures gathered in wonder about him and scattered jewels around him, and called this day the New Day or No/Now-Ruz. This was the first day of the month of Farvardin (the first month of the Persian calendar).
The Persian scholar Abu Rayhan Biruni of the 10th century AD, in his Persian work “Kitab al-Tafhim li Awa’il Sina’at al-Tanjim” provides a description of the calendar of various nations. Besides the Persian calendar, various festivals of Arabs, Jews, Sabians, Greeks and other nations are mentioned in this book. In the section on the Persian calendar , he mentions Nowruz, Sadeh, Tiregan, Mehregan, the six Gahanbar, Parvardegaan, Bahmanja, Isfandarmazh and several other festivals. According to him: It is the belief of the Persians that Nowruz marks the first day when the universe started its motion.  The Persian historian Abu Saʿīd Gardēzī in his work titled Zayn al-Akhbār under the section of the Zoroastrians festivals mentions Nowruz (among other festivals) and specifically points out that Zoroaster highly emphasized the celebration of Nowruz and Mehregan.

The first day on the Iranian calendar falls on the March equinox, the first day of spring, around 20 March. At the time of the equinox, the sun is observed to be directly over the equator, and the north and south poles of the Earth lie along the solar terminator; sunlight is evenly divided between the north and south hemispheres.

Posted by: Mohammad Daeizadeh

Reference: http://parsseh.com/14008/nowruz-persian-new-year-nowruz-around-the-world.html

Health is Wealth

"Health is Wealth"

It is a famous saying,” If Wealth is lost nothing is lost, If health is lost, something is lost, but if character is lost then every thing is lost”. Those are really unfortunate people who give the highest importance to wealth only instead of health or character. Health and character are totally neglected.

This saying is hundred percent correct that Health is Wealth but wealth does not only mean money. It means something very useful and precious. People collect wealth but health is more important then wealth.

Let us suppose the example of q man who is very wealthy. He has a plenty of money, all the comforts of the world, a grand house, fine clothes, best of food, but he has no health. I-Ic is ill, suffering from some disease. Will he be happy? He would not be able to enjoy the good things of life he has got because he is not healthy. On the other hand, let us consider a poor man who does not possess all these comforts of life, still he posses a good health, he will certainly, be happy.

He is free from all types of pains, sufferings and diseases. That is his great happiness. One is unhappy inspite of his wealth, while the other is happy although he has no wealth. That is why we say that health is wealth.

Wealth is not a bad thing. In fact, it is also necessary for life. However, with wealth, health is absolutely necessary. You cannot sleep a night if your body is in pains. You cannot cat the best of the food if your digestion is bad, you cannot enjoy the sight of beautiful things or notes of music if your eyes are in pain. Even a severe headache could turn all pleasure into pain.

When the body is diseased, even the mind is affected. “Sound mind in sound body” is also an old saying. The mind can remain healthy and active when the body is healthy. A person who is weak sickly cannot do much mental work. No doubt, it is true that there have been great men who had poor health but they should have one much better had they enjoyed better health. Health of the body is, therefore, absolutely necessary for mental work. Poor health means poor mind.

It is therefore, clear that health is like a great treasure and it must be guarded jealously. We must take the greatest care of our bodies. Seriously trouble with the machine of the body would mean death-an end to life itself. A man who possesses sound health is indeed a very rich man.

Use and Abuses of Internet

uses of Internet

Internet has been perhaps the most outstanding innovation in the field of communication. Internet is defined as a collection of various services and resources. Although, many people still think e-mail and World Wide Web as the principle constituents of Internet, there is a lot more in store than e-mail, chat rooms, celebrity web sites and search engines. Today internet has brought a globe in a single room. Right from getting news across the corner of the world to accessing knowledge resources to shopping, everything is at your fingertips. As with every single innovation, internet has its own advantages and disadvantages. Nevertheless the advantages of the Internet are so huge in number that they outperform the disadvantages quite easily. Let us see what are advantages and disadvantages of Internet.

Abuses of Internet

There are a lot of people who see the internet as a promoter of immorality. The first and the foremost Abuses of internet for students is the wastage of time in social networking websites like facebook, twitter, orkut etc, Students are found spending ample time with These social sites rather than with their books This habit spoils their time, learning habit in some case leads them to involve in immoral activities Besides this the general disadvantages are spamming. Theft of personal details, fraud, virus threat etc.

Culture and heritage of Gilgit Baltistan

Gilgit –Baltistan has a number of cultural entities, ethnic groups and various backgrounds. In view of the multi-cultural and multi-lingual aspects, people also have a beautiful mix of lifestyles and attitudes presenting a pluralistic society living together in peace and harmony for centuries. The major languages spoken in the region are China, Balti, Burshaki, khuerwahki, and domaki, Urdu and English are common.

The region harbors diverse and endangered mountain cultural traditions. Historically these areas have been aloof from the rest of the world and their life has been revolving around livestock and agriculture. A variety of cultural festivals held in Gilgit Baltistan throughout the year present a exclusive facet of its cultural assortment and different forms of expressions.

These festivals represent a number of important recurring merriment cultural events and religious festival brings value additions to the surroundings, the rich diversity of people, culture arts, crafts and heritage. The folk music and instruments commonly used in Gilgit Baltistan are Dadang (drum) damal (percussion) Duff (a circle framed drum) Sunari or nay (a kind of flute) Ghajak (spiked fiddle) Sitar, Rubab and Gabi (flute) are popular and important instruments. The different rhythm is played in different occasion.

Usually a rhythm is played during the departure of the bride from her parent’s house. Souse A martial rhythm and fast rhythm is played when sword dance is performed. Dani Hunza people’s favorite rhythm is Dani. There are many colorful festivals in Gilgit Baltistan observes during the year Navroz, Jashne Bahrain, Shandoor polo festival, Babusa polo festival, harvest time festival. The harvest festival is performed in the same way as the seeding festival the villagers’ thanks “Allah” God Almighty for the bounty that they are going to harvest from. A polo Traditional sport game of Gilgit Baltistan is polo was originally started from centuries ago.


Reference: http://www.dostpakistan.pk/culture-and-heritage-of-gilgit-baltistan/