Behboodi stated; “In 1937, in the Soviet Union, Nowruz was officially made a holiday, but with the public insistence, the Nowruz ritual was re-established.
Radio Goftogoo’s "In the Shadow of Nowruz" had a phone call interview with Alireza Behboodi, a cultural expert in Azerbaijan Republic.
Alireza Behboodi, pointed that Nowruz has faced lots of ups and downs in Azerbaijan and said; "Until the Tsarist period, people celebrated Nowruz the way our ancestors did, but the Tsarist government made great efforts to replace Christmas with Nowruz, but people resisted and didn’t accept it in practice.
He said that the Soviet authorities didn’t primarily prevent the celebration of Nowruz, but after a while in 1928, unfortunately, Nowruz was recognized as a religious holiday, and therefore they severely stood against the celebration of this ancient event and the cultural ritual of Nowruz. The fighters were atheists. The committee worked to eliminate religious rites, and one of their goals was to eliminate Nowruz from the Soviet calendar.
This cultural expert in Azerbaijan Republic added; "For this reason, people were forced to hold this ceremony in groups in their homes and yards. But unfortunately, the members of this committee entered the houses and disrupted the celebrations. It went like this until in 1937, the Constitution of the Soviet Union officially made Nowruz and the celebration of Nowruz a holiday.
At the same time, he reminded; “After Stalin's death, when they saw people's persistence and stability, they named the day" Goodbye to Russian Winter , which was the first Sunday in March, but because March 21 is the first day of Nowruz, people didn’t accept it, and they protested again, and fortunately, the Nowruz ritual was re-established and continues to this day.”
Behboodi referred to the way Nowruz was announced in the Republic of Azerbaijan and said; “Previously, traditional music groups announced the arrival of Nowruz by playing traditional music in the streets. In recent years, not a specific time is determined as the start of the new year (the way Iranians have), but in some southern regions of Azerbaijan where people are of Taleshi race and speak in Taleshi language, they are careful to celebrate the exact moment which marks the start of new year (just like Iranians).”
He added; “Celebrating Nowruz will start from the last Wednesday of the year (Chaharshanbe Souri). Haft-Sin is made. There should be rice on their tables. Women should bake and place sweets such as sugar cubes, baklava, and sugary bread on the table themselves, and this is a criterion for women to be skillful housewives.”
Behboodi continued; “Raisins, pistachios, almonds and colored eggs will be placed on the Nowruz table. In ancient times, Haft-Sin was common in Azerbaijan. There are seven of them: "Sut" as milk, "su" as water, "semni" as green grass, "sombol" or lavender, "suzmeh" meaning yogurt, and "samich" and "siyanic" which is a kind of fish.
Regarding other rituals in Azerbaijan Republic, Behboodi expressed; “People come out of their houses with their families to celebrate Nowruz and children wear new clothes, which are mostly red. Some of the customs of Nowruz are like showing the fight between "Kaka and Katel". Kaka is a symbol of Nowruz while Katel is a symbol of winter. The children take their hats and go to the neighbors' house and get sweets and gifts from the neighbors. The girls’ eavesdropping is another tradition. They believe that the first sentence they hear affects their destiny. Of course, these customs are also common in Iran.
He added; “many go to visit the families who lost their dear ones and help the poor and needy on Nowruz days.”
The cultural expert in the Republic of Azerbaijan stated; “Nowruz is very colorful in the contemporary and classical literature of Azerbaijan and various poems have been written about it.”
