Mar 14

Chahar Shanbeh Soori

The ceremony held on the eve of ‘Chahar Shanbeh Soori’ is another of the ancient Iranian festivals.     In the scripts in hand from ancient times this national festival of burning shrubs and dancing and rejoicing was called ‘Soori festival’. The ceremony of burning shrubs and jumping over it, eating nuts, rejoicing and wishing each other good health, is today held in the same way as thousands of years ago.     The ‘Soori Festival’ (Soorik) is as old as Nowruz, and according to German historians, even older than that, and belongs to all Aryans. This festival would be held on one of the 5 extra days at the end of the year. The Iranian months in ancient times had 30 days and the 5 remaining days each had a holy name. It is not known from when this national festival was held on the eve of the last Wednesday (Chahar Shanbeh) of the year.     After conquer of the Arabs this festival was restored in Isfahan, by Mardaviz, the great Iranian hero. He, who rose from Deylaman, put an end to the Arab rule in the northern and central parts of Iran. In the Samanian (Samanid) era this ancient national ceremony was still called ‘Soori Festival’ and called in this name in the scripts left from those days. The term ‘Chahar Shanbeh Soori’ is apparently related to the contemporary centuries.     According to the press news of 14 March 2010, Islamic Republic authorities have commented that “Chahar Shanbeh Soori festival not only lacks religious basis, but also causes a lot of harm and corruption, and it is advisable to avoid it.”.           Translation by Rowshan Lohrasbpour (AmordadNews writer)