Shab e yalda shab e chelleh, its philosophy, history and the relation of the 4000 years old ceremonies of the longest night of the year with christmas. Shabe yalda, the celebration of the longest night of the year eavar. We invite our friends over, and mehrdad plays the piano and sings folk songs popularized by sima bina, katayoun shares with me. It is also referred to as shabe chelleh, a celebration of winter.
Shabe yalda or shabe chelleh is an iranian festival celebrated on the longest and darkest. Poetry and naqali for shabeyalda financial tribune. Join us for our final event of the year at an evening in early anticipation of shabe yalda. It is also referred to as shabe chelleh, a celebration of winter solstice on december 21the last night of fall and the longest night of the year. Yalda night is a beautiful ancient iranian celebration. The ancient persians depended on agriculture for their livelihood and had to plant and gather according to the. By experience, they learned that the longer days and warm rays of the sun helped their crops and the gathering months brought shorter days and longer nights. Shab e yalda is the celebration of light over darkness. Yalda night, iranian celebration of longest night of year iran doostan. Ancient origins articles related to shab e yalda in the sections of history, archaeology, human origins, unexplained, artifacts, ancient places and myths and legends. Shab e yalda is also a time for indulging in some singing.
Iranians are celebrating the longest and darkest night of the year or winter solstice. In zoroastrian tradition the longest and darkest night of the year was a particularly inauspicious day, and the practices of what is now known as shabe chelleh yalda were originally customs intended to protect people from evil see dews during that long night, at which time the evil forces of ahriman were imagined to be at their peak. Each member of the family makes a wish and randomly opens hafezs book. Shabe yalda, the celebration of the longest night of the. Persian poets have written extensively about the night of yalda shabeyalda. Shab e yalda an ancient winter solstice celebration that commemorates the triumph of mithra.
Easternologists and historians unanimously agree that since the past 4000 years on shab e yalda the last day of autumn and azar which is the longest and darkest night of the year. A commentary about yalda night by iran e man my iran tv in portland oregon. Iranian storytelling tradition is the narration of important fables, myths and epics mentioned in the most important books of ancient times and. Shahbe chelle, shabe yalda, zayeshmehr also known as yalda and shab e cheleh in persian is celebrated on the eve of the first day of the winter december 2122 in the iranian calendar, which falls on the winter solstice and forty days before the next major iranian festival jashn e sadeh fire festival.
Growing up, i looked forward every year to the celebration of shabe yalda. I should add here that we in iran use a different calendar, the iranian calendar. Shabeyalda or yalda night is an ancient persian cultural festivity marking. Persians adopted the celebration from the babylonians and. The true morning will not come until the yalda night is gone. Shabe yalda is also called shabe chelleh that literally meaning the. For iranians around the world, the winter solstice is not just the longest night of the year, it is also the time to commemorate the triumph of mithra, the sun god, over darkness in an ancient persian celebration known as shab e yalda. On shabe yalda, making wishes, eating summer fruits and reciting works by 14. The history of shabe yalda the ancient persians depended on agriculture for their livelihood and had to plant and gather according to the change of seasons. Shabeyalda yalda night also known as shabe chelleh is one of the most. Here is a stanza from baba taher oryan 9501019, the mystical persian poet who roamed the mountains of hamadan naked. If that sounds like a familiar tale, yalda, which means birth and is now also a.
This night is on 20 to 21 december according to the georgian calendar. The iranian nation has strong social and historical fibers to celebrate. The festivities start the evening before the first day of winter and continue until the early hours of the next day. Shabeyalda an ancient winter solstice celebration that. The birth of god mithra and significance of winter. People were advised to stay awake most of the night, lest misfortune should befall them, and people would then gather in the safety of groups of friends. An iranian lady recites poetry with the book of hafez during the night of yalda. Yalda, which means birth, is a syriac word imported into the persian language. Celebrated on the eve of the winter solstice, yalda marks the turning.
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