The thirteenth day of the new year festival is Sizdah Bedar (literally meaning “passing the thirteenth day”, figuratively meaning “Passing the bad luck of the thirteenth day”). This is a day of festivity in the open, often accompanied by music and dancing, usually at family picnics.
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Since very ancient times, it is said, the Arous Gol ceremony has been held around Gilan and Mazandaran, two Caspian Sea provinces of Iran. The ceremony is part of festivities just before 21 March and a reminder of the arrival of spring.
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Sari is the provincial capital of Mazandaran, located in the north of Iran on beautiful southern coast of Caspian (Mazandaran) Sea. Sari was founded during the Sasanid period (ad 224–651).
Native people of Sari have a folklore that the city was populated when Smith Kaveh (native of this city) revolted against the tyranny of Zahak.
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Qom is the second most sacred city in Iran after Mashhad. Much of the shrine complex was first built by Shah Abbas I in the early 17th century.
Qom, along with the shrine were raided in 1221 by the Mongols and again by the Tamerlane. In 1519 the dome of the shrine was rebuilt and the courtyard was embellished in honour of the Safavid king, Shah Ismail I.
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Karvansray Khanat, Tehran 2011
Nowruz is a time for great joy and celeberations shared by people of all faiths and ethnicity in many regions inside and outside Iran, and its registered on the UNESCO list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
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In association with the “rebirth of nature”, extensive spring-cleaning is a national tradition observed by almost every household in Iran. This is also extended to personal attire, and it is customary to buy at least one set of new clothes. On the New Year’s Day, families dress in their new clothes and start the twelve-day celebrations by visiting the elders of their family, then the rest of their family and finally their friends.
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Nowruz with different spelling shows up in official calendars of Iran, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Albania, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Autonomous Region of Kurdistan (part of Iraq) and Georgia.
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Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the Iranian year. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox (the start of spring in the northern hemisphere), which usually occurs either on March 20 on March 21.
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