Google Doodles Persian New Year for Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan

This year when I checked Google’s logo for Persian New Year on 21st of March 2013 at https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=fa , surprisingly I noticed that Google didn’t mention Nowruz (Persian New Year), the most important and longest holiday in Persia (Iran). I thought maybe Google doodle team didn’t want to mark Nowruz, but now that I was checking Google Doodle page for different logos, I noticed that Google had marked Persian New Year but only for four Turkic speaking countries, i.e. Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan!

I am definitely sure that people in Google doodle team are not ignorant and they must know that Persian New Year is celebrated in many countries such as Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan and the question arises while Nowruz is really a Persian New Year Festival and in Iran (Persia) is the longest and the most important holidays, why it should not be marked for Iran and other countries such as Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

Happy Sizdah-be-dar!

Google Doodles Vernal (Spring) Equinox

Google marks the first day of spring by changing its logo. In recent years Google was used to doodle Nowruz (Persian New Year) by changing the logo of its Persian version of Google homepage, i.e.
https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=fa, but this year it seems that the Google Doodle Team has decided to be more general to mark vernal (spring) equinox, but not to mark Nowruz that can be disappointing for some Persians / Iranians like me

Maestro Nasehpour Congratulates the Arrival of Spring

The very great master of classical Persian vocal music and radif music repertoire, maestro Nasrollah Nasehpour, in a message in Persian language congratulates the arrival of spring and nowruz (Persian New Year):

Happy Chaharshanbe Suri!

On the eve of the last Wednesday of the Persian year (which ends on 21 March and then Nowruz, Persian new year comes), Iranians gather to light bonfires in the streets and jump over the flames shouting: “Zardi-ye-man az to, sorkh-ye-to az man” – meaning: “May my sickly pallor be yours and your red glow be mine.”

With this phrase, the flames symbolically take away all the unpleasant things that happened in the past year and provide hopes of
enlightenment and happiness in the year to come.

Singing, dancing and eating together are also part of this fire festival, known as Chaharshanbe Suri.

Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaharshanbe_Suri &
http://www.guardian.co.uk/

The Presence of Persian Culture in Google Logo (Doodle)

Google Logo Team doodles holidays and events since Aug 30 1998. The first Google logo that doodled something related to Persian culture was about Persian New Year (Nowruz) on March 20th, 2004.

The doodle team (Google Logo Team) is open to user ideas; requests for doodles can be sent to proposals@google.com. The team receives numerous requests so even if we do not get back to you about your request, please know that we do look at and consider all the requests that are submitted.

Today Google Logo Team doodled the Russian Saint Basil’s Cathedral and a good suggestion to Persian community in all over the world is to submit their google logos to doodle some important symbols of Persian culture like Cyrus the Great, Khayyam, Persepolis, Naqsh-e Jahan Square and so on.

first google logo doodle global burning man festival

first google logo for persian new year 2004

google logo doodles st basils cathedral

Happy Nowruz

Happy Nowruz (Persian New Year) and Happy Spring!

I wish all the best for those people who celebrate Nowruz.

A good friend of mine, Hooshang Samani, has written a wonderful article about Nowruz music in his blog here:

Nowruz celebration with Persian colorful music

I hope you will like it.

Persian music radif repertoire and Persian New Year make it into UN heritage list

Persian music and New Year traditions have been registered on UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Tradition of Persian New Year, Nowruz, and the Radif of Iranian music were inscribed on the list during the 4th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held from Sep. 28 to Oct. 2, 2009 in Abu Dhabi.

Nowruz, which coincides with the first day of spring on the solar calendar, is mostly celebrated in Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.

For Iranians, Nowruz is a celebration of renewal and change, a time to visit relatives and friends, and pay respect to senior family members.

Iranians welcome the New Year by wearing new clothes and setting the Haft Seen, a table containing seven items starting with the letter ‘S’ — Sabzeh (freshly grown greens), Samanoo (A type of traditional pudding), Senjed (Jujube), Seeb (Apple), Seer (Garlic), Sumac and Serkeh (vinegar).

The Radif of Iranian music is the traditional repertoire of the classical music of Iran and reflects the cultural and national identity of the Iranian people.

UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) was established in the 1990s and deals with oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, traditional craftsmanship and knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe.