During Nowruz (the Persian New Year, literally means New Day), citizens of various regions of Turkmenistan engage in their traditional ceremonies. These include lighting fires (Şam-od) and jumping over them, growing sabzeh (greenery), organizing Nowruz celebrations such as setting up tents and tall swings in the days leading up to the holiday, preparing special sweets and dishes (such as Kachi Nowruz), holding local wrestling matches, horse races, ram fights, and rooster contests. The festivities also feature various musical performances, group dances, and songs, as well as the collective preparation of Samanu (a sweet paste made from germinated wheat) by neighbors. Traditional youth games like Ai Terek – Gun Terek and Monjuq Atdilar are also played during the Nowruz celebrations. Nowruz festivities in Turkmenistan are characterized by their visual splendor, as they involve group activities, colorful traditional attire, and gatherings in open spaces—usually outside cities or in town squares and parks—during the vibrant spring season.
By: Behrouz Ghezel*
12 minutes Reading
Introduction
Alongside the Persian language, Nowruz (the Persian New Year, literally means New Day) serves as one of the key cultural and identity markers that connect Iran to its neighboring and civilizational sphere. In this context, exploring Nowruz and its shared traditions is a means of fostering and accelerating cultural convergence, which in turn can act as a driving force for political cooperation and unity. Turkmenistan, a neighboring country of Iran, is one of the lands where Nowruz is not only well-known in society and culture but also holds a significant position in its national and social identity. Nowruz is celebrated as a national festival in Turkmenistan and shares deep-rooted ties with Nowruz traditions in Iran.
Furthermore, the recognition and celebration of Nowruz in Turkmenistan extend far beyond recent decades and have an ancient historical presence. Classical Turkmen literature serves as a prominent reflection of this deep-rooted tradition. In the following discussion, we aim to explore the role of Nowruz in contemporary Turkmen society, examine its cultural significance, and provide examples of Nowruz’s presence in classical Turkmen literature.
The Civilizational Sphere of Nowruz
Over recent decades, terms such as "Nowruz geography," "Nowruz civilizational sphere," and " Countries of the Nowruz region " have become common in Iran’s cultural diplomacy discourse. These concepts revolve around the central idea of Nowruz as a shared heritage among people who have historically lived within a common cultural and civilizational framework. Today, Nowruz is recognized across a vast geographical region of the world. Many countries officially celebrate it as a national holiday or an occasion for festivities. While the specific traditions and rituals of Nowruz may vary from one region to another, there are numerous commonalities that reveal its unified identity as a cultural celebration.
| Central Asian countries are considered as a part of the cultural geography or civilizational area of Nowruz, marking the arrival of spring (the vernal equinox) with celebrations. In this region, Nowruz is deeply tied to the awareness of seasonal changes and their impact on the peoples’ livelihoods, particularly in agriculture and animal husbandry. Additionally, the festival is recognized as an ancient heritage and an integral part of the region’s historical identity. |
The grandeur of Nowruz in Tajikistan is particularly noteworthy. In Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, Nowruz festivities are widely observed with shared customs, albeit with slight variations based on the specific cultural needs of each society. In Turkmenistan, especially after gaining independence, the festival gained prominence as a national holiday through the efforts of Saparmurat Niyazov, the country’s first president. Today, Nowruz is recognized with a three-day public holiday in Turkmenistan.
Nowruz in Turkmenistan
In modern-day Turkmenistan, Nowruz is a national holiday. Various historical narratives about the origins of Nowruz are found in Turkmen folklore and academic literature. Some link it to the reign of Jamshid (the fourth king of the mythological Pishdadian dynasty of Iran), others to the time of Prophet Solomon, and some associate it with Zoroastrian beliefs. However, researchers at the Institute of Ethnology and Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan emphasize that Nowruz has existed in this region for thousands of years.
Regardless of its historical associations, what is clear is the prevailing belief in Turkmenistan today that Nowruz is an intrinsic part of their culture and history, and that the country is naturally considered to be within the civilizational and geographical sphere of Nowruz. This perspective is evident in the words of former president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, now chairman of the People’s Council of Turkmenistan:
Nowruz is an ancient and national festival of the Turkmen people. This holiday, deeply rooted in the hearts and beliefs of our people, was celebrated by our ancestors as the beginning of the new year. The philosophy of Nowruz originates from the deep understanding of life held by our forefathers, and over the ages, it has secured a lofty and esteemed place in the spiritual life of the Turkmen people. Today, in the modern calendar of the Turkmen state, Nowruz has acquired new meaning, deeper spirituality, and greater significance.
Nowruz is officially celebrated on March 21 in Turkmenistan. However, its traditional ceremonies begin several days before and extend for a few days afterward. The diversity and intensity of Nowruz traditions vary across different regions of the country.
| In southern Turkmenistan, particularly along the foothills of the Kopet Dag Mountains as well as the Amu Darya and Murghab plains in the southeast, Nowruz festivities are more vibrant and diverse. People in fertile agricultural areas tend to celebrate the arrival of spring with greater enthusiasm. However, in other parts of the country, Nowruz also celebrate both through formal and informal gatherings. A key aspect of these celebrations is their social nature, expressed through collective activities such as gatherings of peers, women’s groups, youth assemblies, artist groups, neighborhood events, and more. |
The Role of Nowruz in Turkmenistan’s Culture
Understanding the significance of Nowruz in Turkmen society requires acknowledging the historical reality that Turkmenistan underwent over thirty years of Tsarist Russian rule, followed by seventy years of Soviet communist domination. These periods profoundly influenced the social and cultural life of the Turkmen people, including their Nowruz traditions.
According to scholars such as Baharliyeva (1995), Durdiyeva (2000), and Geldiyev (2001 & 2003), the suppression of indigenous cultural values during the Soviet era was so severe that celebrating Nowruz was nearly impossible. Furthermore, finding even a single significant book or article dedicated to Nowruz in Turkmenistan before the 1990s was extremely difficult.
During that period, the main goal of the vast cultural apparatus was to replace the identity of the citizens of the republics (including Turkmenistan) with the new identity of Soviet Man. However, after the collapse of the USSR and the emergence of independent states, there was a renewed focus on traditional customs and indigenous cultural symbols. As part of this resurgence, Nowruz regained its place as an essential element of Turkmenistan’s historical and cultural heritage.
Initially, Nowruz celebrations were revived at a gradual pace. However, over time, it became firmly established as a national holiday and an integral part of Turkmenistan’s cultural identity. In the early 2000s, President Niyazov extended the Nowruz holiday to three days and even temporarily renamed the month of March as Nowruz. The commemoration of Nowruz continued under the leadership of the Berdimuhamedow administration, albeit with a more cultural and realistic approach. Today, Nowruz is widely recognized as a core element of Turkmenistan’s cultural and social identity.
During Nowruz, citizens of various regions of Turkmenistan engage in their traditional ceremonies. These customs include lighting fires (Şam-od) and jumping over them, growing Sabzeh (greenery), and organizing Nowruz festivities such as setting up tents and tall swings in the days leading up to Nowruz. Other celebrations involve preparing special sweets and foods (such as Nowruz Kachi), holding local wrestling matches, horse races, ram fights, rooster fights, playing various musical instruments, performing group dances and songs, cooking Samanu (a sweet paste made from germinated wheat) collectively with neighbors, and engaging in traditional youth games like Aýterek-Günterek and Monjuq Atdylar during the Nowruz celebrations.
The Nowruz festivities in Turkmenistan are visually unique due to the collective activities, the wearing of colorful garments, and gatherings in open spaces (usually outside cities or in squares and recreational areas) during springtime. Preparing a table with various food products and diverse dishes is also a consistent tradition of Nowruz celebrations in Turkmenistan. However, the Haft-Sin table (A table on which seven symbolic objects are placed), as commonly observed in Iran, is not widespread in Turkmenistan - although a table with some Haft-Sin elements, such as Sabzeh and Samanu, exists, it does not necessarily resemble the Iranian version. Additionally, post-Nowruz traditions such as Sizdah Bedar (also known as Nature's Day is an annual Iranian festival held thirteen days after Nowruz, during which people spend time picnicking outdoors) are not commonly recognized in this country.
Among the various customs, the method of cooking Samanu and the beliefs surrounding it hold particular significance. As previously mentioned, cooking Samanu is a collective activity generally undertaken by women within their neighborhood community. Neighbors dedicate long hours to preparing Samanu, and after completing the process, they leave the pot covered overnight. A common belief suggests that the first person to open the pot the next morning will witness the fingerprints of Lady Fatimah (the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) on the Samanu, and this experience is a testament to that person's virtue, purity, and goodwill.
This demonstrates a fusion of ancient traditions with religious and Islamic beliefs in the "Nowruz experience" of the Turkmen people. Additionally, visiting certain shrines in various regions of the country and the belief in the connection between some sacred sites (such as the shrine of Bolamaqli Awliya or Qiz Bibi Jan in the Qarri Qala region of Balkan Province) and the Nowruz period further enriches the "Nowruz culture" of Turkmenistan's society.
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Nowruz in the Turkmenistan's Classical Literature
Beyond the elements of public culture and the experience of Nowruz celebrations in the post-independence era, the role of Nowruz in the linguistic and literary heritage of Turkmenistan is noteworthy. A brief review of Turkmen literary history reveals diverse references to Nowruz, illustrating its significance in the cosmological worldview of the Turkmen people.
In Turkmenistan’s classical literature, Nowruz has been depicted as a timekeeping element, or a marker of nature’s transformation, or a joyful occasion worthy of celebration. For example, in the famous poem Nowruzdan Seni (I Will Find You in Nowruz) by "Magtymguly Pyragy" (18th century), Nowruz serves as a foundation for time reckoning, the passage of time, and nature’s renewal. The poem begins:
I could not find you and sought you in autumn;
You said: Let winter pass, I will find you myself in Nowruz.
Magtymguly also wrote in another poem:
Winter has passed, and Nowruz has arrived;
then spring too turned into winter.
Even the winds that blew from village have faded away!
And in yet another instance:
Time turns, days and months arrive and pass;
Good or bad, Nowruz comes, winter departs, and the year goes by.
Nowruz has been a cornerstone of the annual calendar and a reflection of nature's transformation. Additionally, in another instance, Nowruz is used as a chronological marker, as Magtymguly refers to his father’s passing in relation to Nowruz:
At the age of sixty-five, coinciding with Nowruz, in the Year of the Whale,
Fate arrived and took my father away.
A famous example from Magtymguly’s poetry book is the poem Duman Payda, in which the poet’s joyful perspective on Nowruz, spring, and nature’s revival merges with his metaphysical outlook. The poem begins:
When the universal Nowruz arrives, it fills the world with colors;
The clouds sing and settle over the mountains.
Lifeless nature awakens and opens its mouth;
Barren slopes don a new garment of greenery.
... Silent birds once again find their voices and sing.
Other instances of Nowruz’s reflection in Magtymguly’s works include:
Now, I have passed through!
Ah, from spring, Nowruz, and winter!
My mother, my qibla, my kind one! Where shall I seek you?
And in another poem:
I resided with you, and ate your bread and salt for three years;
Now I must depart—farewell, beautiful Shirghazi!
I have spent your winter, Nowruz, and spring;
Now I must depart—farewell, beautiful Shirghazi!
Beyond Magtymguly, other poets have also celebrated Nowruz in their poetry. The poetry books of classical Turkmen poets showcase diverse depictions of Nowruz. For instance, "Mahmyt Gaýyby" (18th century) vividly describes Nowruz in an enthusiastic poem that begins:
As Nowruz arrived, the world turned into a garden again;
Flowers bloomed from buds, and the world became a garden again.
Everywhere on earth, meadows sprouted in various hues;
How beautifully adorned the world is—it became a tulip field again.
... Every heart filled with passion is now eager for life;
By the will and power of God, how delightful it is that spring has returned.
Similarly, "Şeýdaýy" (18th century), another renowned Turkmen poet, beautifully describes Nowruz in his poem Bagh-u Bostan Ast Emruz (Today is a Garden):
Nowruz has arrived,
and the whole world has turned into a garden today.
The flower field is in full bloom,
and the nightingale is singing.
Rejoice and celebrate,
for today is a day of joy;
All people roam in the green fields,
Tulips have blossomed,
and the desert has become an orchard.
Nowruz has arrived with grace,
turning nature into a flower garden.
Beyond the poets of the 18th century, Nowruz also holds a special place in the works of later poets. For example, in a poem by "Annagylych Mataji" (19th century), Nowruz is depicted as the beginning of the new year:
Beloved! I long to see you,
for you are the cure to my pain!
Beloved! You resemble Nowruz and the season of spring!
You are a newly blossomed flower,
and I am your admirer.
As evident, in Turkmenistan’s classical literature, Nowruz holds an undeniable presence, appearing as the marker of the new year, a reflection of nature’s transformation (a metaphor for resurrection), the beginning of spring, and an opportunity for celebration and joy.
Conclusion
Nowruz is a shared heritage of people who have lived and thrived within the Iranian cultural sphere. While Nowruz customs may differ based on local or national contexts, its essence remains unified across various countries. This continuity serves as evidence of the enduring connections between societies that have historically interacted across vast geographies and viewed the world through a common lens.
In recent years, Nowruz has been recognized as a valuable cultural diplomacy tool. However, its potential has not yet been fully realized in strengthening bilateral and multilateral relations between Iran and "countries of the Nowruz region". Among these countries, Turkmenistan, with its linguistic, literary, and cultural ties to Iran, presents a real opportunity for cultural and social (in addition to economic, political, etc.) convergence. The aspects of the interconnection between Iran and Turkmenistan go far beyond the level of interactions that currently exist between the two countries. Recognizing and activating these deep-rooted connections requires greater focus on capacities such as language, literature, and culture as well as shared traditions like Nowruz.
*Behrouz Ghezel is a Researcher at the Institute for East Strategic Studies
Tranlator: Zahra Khademi Rad
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