06:00, 21 March 2018

Residents of Azerbaijan welcome Novruz Bayram

Baku celebrates Novruz Bayram. Photo by Aziz Karimov for the Caucasian Knot.

In the evening on March 20, when the spring equinox came, Azerbaijanis saw the Novruz Bayram holiday in; its history has more than three thousand years.

Five consecutive days, March 20-24, have been announced days-off in Azerbaijan on the occasion of the Novruz-Bayram holiday.

Novruz-Bayram is a holiday of spring, it symbolizes the awakening of all living things. It is believed that one’s well-being in the coming year depends on the way a person has welcomed the Novruz. Therefore, it is a custom to buy new things for the holiday: clothes, furniture, and others.

Azerbaijani residents celebrate Novruz Bayram with traditional tablefuls, where the main meal is the festive pilaf. On the first day of Novruz, the whole family should be at home. Local residents say: "If on the first day of Novruz you are not at home, then you will not see your home for seven years."

On the day preceding the Novruz, it is a custom to make bonfires and jump through the flames. On March 19, the Novruz Bayram celebrations were launched in Baku in the Old Town, where a festive bonfire was lit at the Maiden Tower.

The city also opened a festive exhibition-fair "Oriental Bazaar", located in the Baku Seaside Boulevard.

Author: Aziz Karimov

Source: CK correspondent