Tehran Gets More Colourful for Nowruz Despite Corona Outbreak

While Tehran municipality has taken extensive measures to combat the Coronavirus, Nowruz has changed the mood of Tehran and many other cities in the country.

According to Hamshahri, even Corona can’t make us forget Nowruz. Although people will not travel this year and citizens will celebrate Nowruz in their homes in hopes of brighter days, the city is changing. Flowering has begun in the streets of the city. The gardens will be covered with flowers, and the city wall paintings will change its face.

These days, the coronavirus may have hurt many citizens. Some may mourn the loss of their loved ones. Many others are also worried about their loved ones who are infected with the deadly disease. Nonetheless, Nowruz is always a time for rejuvenation. It means to rise again and be born again.

Therefore, the municipality is preparing gardens and public spaces for Nowruz along with planting a thousand sycamore on Vali-e-Asr Street.

The municipality’s program to welcome spring used to start every year by the mid-March, but this year all of them have been affected by the spread of the virus. However, the routine work of different sections of the municipality is going on. A number of programs to welcome the New Year are being implemented in Tehran as before. For example, painters are currently working at 150 locations around the city, and are drawing designs on city walls. In general, individual activities that do not include group gathering, such as the installation of coloured eggs, are being held. They are being run in 22 locations and parts of Vali-e-Asr Street in northern Tehran. This year, lightings are also being installed at squares, bridges and other parts of the city. The following images from IRNA News Agency show the colourful egg festival before Nowruz. The festival is being held on Vali-e-Asr with the participation of artists and in cooperation with the Tehran Municipality.

Painted eggs are actually dating back to a time when people celebrated the spring equinox with offerings and mementos symbolizing rebirth and the beginning of spring. Eggs have since remained a reminder of new life. Many cultures have embraced this tradition and celebrate the coming of spring in ways that are as varied as the colourful eggs that mark the occasion.

One of the oldest egg painting traditions began in Persia over 4,000 years ago. On Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, people prepare a Haft-Seen table which includes seven symbolic items marking the occasion. Although painted eggs are not one of the traditional seven items (which include wheat sprouts, sweet pudding, olive fruit, garlic, apples, sumac, an vinegar), families often include clay animals, fish, and painted eggs to emphasise the importance of new life.