President Emomali Rahmon has congratulated Tajikistanis on Navrouz festival, according to the Tajik president’s official website.
In his message of congratulations, Rahmon, in particular, says, “This feast always strikes hope for a better future, happiness and gladness into people’s hearts and leads people to friendship, sincerity, love and devotion.”
Rahmon notes that many events and transformations have taken place in the life of the Aryan peoples, including the Tajiks, over millennia, leading to the creation of restrictions on national rituals, traditions and holidays.
“However, Navrouz, like the language and national culture, has firmly rooted in the consciousness of our ancestors, its status and place among our people were so significant that no obstacles or forces could remove it. The main factor in the longevity of Navrouz is its direct connection with nature and human being, with national traditions, customs and rituals,” says the message of congratulations.
Navrouz, which literary means New Day in Persian, Dari and Tajik languages, is the traditional Iranian new year holiday, celebrated by Iranian and many other peoples. It marks the first day of spring and is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox (the start of spring in the northern hemisphere), which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. Today, the festival of Navrouz is celebrated in many countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, as well as Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. Many peoples in West and South Asia, Northeast China, the Crimea, as well as Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia also celebrate this holiday.
In September 2009, the UN's cultural agency, UNESCO, included Navrouz in its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. On February 23, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly recognized the International Day of Navrouz.
