Iranians gathered on Wednesday in the tomb of the 14th century poet Hafez, better known as Hafezieh, in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz to celebrate the advent of Nowruz, or the Persian New Year.
Millions of people in Iran and several other countries are celebrating Persian New Year, Nowruz, an ancient festivity that marks the beginning of the spring and the renewal of nature.
As the countdown to the New Year inches closer, the bustling streets of Tehran witness a flurry of activity as residents flock to the Tajrish market in north of the capital. With just a few hours left, citizens are fervently engaged in purchasing essential items and textiles to ring in the new year.
Many Iranians in the capital Tehran and other cities around the country have flocked to the cemeteries to say prayers for the deceased on the last Friday of the year before the Persian New Year.
Every year, as the hot season arrives, the people of Kivi village and its surrounding villages in the Varzaghan Country of East Azarbaijan Province hold a pilgrimage ritual in the first ten days of the summer on top of a mountain called Pirdaghi or the Old Mountain.
People across Iran celebrate Nature’s Day, better known as Sizdah Bedar, on the last day of Nowruz, or Persian New Year holidays, by camping outdoors in the nature.
During the holy month of Ramadan, the pilgrims of Imam Reza, the eight Shia Imam, will be served with hot food and iftar in the northeastern city of Mashhad.
Iranians joined street celebrations across the capital, Tehran, to commemorate the annual Spring Festival, as they prepare for Nowruz, or the Persian New Year, which will start on Tuesday.
Japanese Ambassador to Tehran Aikawa Kazutoshi recites lyrics in a poem by ancient Persian lyric poet Hafez, to commemorate Persian New Year, Nowruz, which is just around the corner.
“Yalda Night,” also known as “Shab-e Chelleh,” observed both in Iran and Afghanistan, goes on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Millions of black-clad Iranians across the country, like other Shia Muslims worldwide, marked Ashura on Monday, the martyrdom anniversary of the third Shia Imam and the Prophet’s grandson, Imam Hussein (peace be upon him).
For the Kurmanji Kurds in Iran’s northeastern North Khorasan province, tying the knot is the most important event in anyone’s life that is celebrated with a colorful and joyful ceremony.
Gargee’an, or qarqee’an, is the name of a popular ritual among Arabs in Iran’s Khouzestan and Hormozgan, and in Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, eastern Saudi Arabia (Ahsa and Qatif), and the United Arab Emirates.
The people in Iran’s southern Hormozgan Province, like their other compatriots, have clung firmly to their religious rituals during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, during which they abstain from all food or drink from dawn to sunset, among other things.
Sizdah Be-dar is the last festival in the Nowruz festivities in Iran that come after Khaaneh Tekani, Charshanbe Suri, Tahvile Saal (beginning of the new year), Haft Seen and Nowruz family visits.
A festive carnival, called the Carnival of Joy, has been travelling across Iran’s north-central province of Semnan, as Iranians are celebrating the start of spring and the Persian New Year.