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Although the principles of Nowruz are the same, each country weaves in its own unique traditions — and spells it slightly differently. In 2016, it was added to UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, recognising a celebration that’s withstood, quite remarkably, three millennia of changing regimes and religions. Nowruz is biggest holiday and a momentous time across the country. It usually kicks off with a spring-cleaning ritual called khane tekani, which translates to ‘shaking down the house’. Once the home is in order, on the last Wednesday before Nowruz, light up the streets and skies for Chaharshanbe Suri, or ‘Red Celebration’, in honour of all things fire — an element Zoroastrians believe to be a symbol of purity.
