Baha’i Naw-Ruz: Discovering new potentialities for the soul to flourish

Baha’u’llah wrote in his ‘Guide of Legal guidelines’, ‘…O individuals of the world! Now we have enjoined upon you fasting throughout a short interval, and at its shut have designated Naw-Ruz as a feast.… Say: this present day, verily, is the crown of all of the months and the supply thereof, the day on which the breath of life is wafted over all created issues.’

For, Naw-Ruz is an event to dare and dream of discovering new potentialities for the soul to flourish because it walks the trail of service. The origins of the competition are attributed to the legendary Pishdadian King Jamshid of prehistoric Iran. The legend is contained in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, Guide of Kings, an Iranian epic.

An vital custom practiced throughout Naw-Ruz is the gathering round ‘the Desk’, embellished with objects that symbolise purity, brightness, livelihood and wealth, to get pleasure from a particular meal with family members. There are additionally avenue performances of music and dance, public rituals involving water and hearth, conventional sports activities and the making of handicrafts.

Might the competition of Naw-Ruz reshape human notion for the realisation of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — one planet, one household, one future.