GILGIT: Jashn-i-Nauroz was celebrated with religious zeal in various districts of Gilgit-Baltistan on Saturday.

The day marks the beginning of the New Year in the Persian calendar.

The festival was celebrated in Gilgit, Hunza-Nagar, Ghizar, Astore, Skardu and Ghancha districts. Mostly Shia and Ismaili communities celebrate the day.

The Gilgit-Baltistan government had announced official holiday on the occasion.

Local games like polo, traditional musical programmes were organised. Special dishes were also prepared and distributed to relatives and friends.

Children and women dressed in new clothes and greeted each other and went to each other’s houses.

Special congregations were also held in different towns where special prayers were offered for prosperity of the country.

In Hunza-Nagar district, Nauroz coincides with start of agriculture activities, as people start to plough their fields.

Safdar Hussain, a resident of Nagar, said that he never wanted to miss the Nauroz event.

“I do not know the historical importance of the day, but for me it is an event that heralds arrival of spring season after long harsh winter,” he added.

Safdar said most attractive feature of Nauroz was ‘Chi, Chi’, a traditional get together of women, children and elders in every village.

“The highlight of these functions is that a newborn dressed in new clothes is placed on the shoulders of an elder who then carries the baby to some distance,” said Safdar.

He maintained that families of babies bring dry fruits, homemade traditional dishes and sweets for distribution among the participants.

The participants pray for good luck and blessings of the newborns.

The same tradition is celebrated in Ghizer, but with some changes.

In Ghizer and Hunza hair of newborn babies is cut.

In Baltistan, an interesting feature of Nauroz is breaking of painted eggs by boys.

Liqat Ali Anjum, a resident of Skardu, explained that every competitor brought an egg to the ceremony, where they tried to break egg with egg.

Each time the egg was broken the winner was given an egg by the loser.

Also, a three-day traditional polo tournament began on Friday a day before Nauroz at the polo ground, Skardu. A large number of people witnessed the opening match.

Published in Dawn March 22nd , 2015

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