Navroz festival celebrated on 16th August in India
Novroz
Navroz is also known as Parsi New Year. In Persian 'Nava' means new and 'Roz' means day which literally means 'New Day' although globally it is celebrated in March. Navroz comes after 200 days in India and is
celebrated in the month of August. It is celebrated because here the Parsis follow the Shahanshahi calendar which does not have a leap year.
Navroz in India is also known as Jamshed-i-Navroz after the Persian king Jamshed. King Jamshed is
credited with creating the Shahanshahi calendar. The special feature of this festival is that people in India celebrate it twice a year - first according to the Iranian
calendar and the second according to the Shahanshahi calendar, which is followed by people in India and
Pakistan. This festival falls between the months of July and August.
This tradition is celebrated all over the world by Iranians and Zoroastrians. In 2009, Navroz was
included in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of India by UNESCO. This prestigious list includes intangible heritage elements that help to showcase the
diversity of cultural heritage and raise awareness of its importance.