Google Doodle celebrates Nowruz: Know about this UN-recognised international holiday
Google Doodles, the temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages, commemorate many holidays, festivals, and the lives of famous pioneers.
Google Doodle, on Tuesday, is celebrating the Iranian New Year, Nowroz or Navroz, a festival that is celebrated by Parsis all across the globe. Since the festival marks the beginning of the spring season, the interactive artwork represents the theme with spring flowers — tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, and bee orchids.
Jumping on the bandwagon to celebrate the Parsi New Year, Google wrote,"As winter fades, and the northern hemisphere begins to thaw, it's time to celebrate Nowruz. Today's Doodle highlights this ancient holiday that marks the beginning of spring. More than 300 million people gather around the world on this day each year to celebrate the season of rebirth."
The Google Doodle page also mentioned that the United Nations has declared the festival as an international holiday as it is being celebrated by over 300 million people across the globe. "Did you know the United Nations recognizes Nowruz as an international holiday? That’s because families celebrate this joyful festival across the Middle East, the South Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin, and Northern, Western, Central, and South Asia". "Happy Nowruz to all who celebrate! May your new year be filled with love, peace, and renewed hope", it added.
As per the legends, the word Navroz comes from two words, 'nav' and 'roz'. 'Nav' in Persian stands for ‘new’ while ‘Roz’ means ‘day’ that literally translates to ‘new day’ and thus, it marks the beginning of the New Year in many cultures.
This tradition of celebrating Parsi New Year is believed to have been observed by Iranians and Zorastian for the past 3,000 years as it marks the beginning of the Iranian calendar and is celebrated till date by the Parsi community around the world with great pomp and show.
On this day some people decorate eggs to honour new life, decorate their home to prepare for a fresh start, and cook special meals including spring vegetables and herbs.
Google Doodles, the temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages, commemorate many holidays, festivals, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers and scientists. Google also took the occasion to feature segments like "this doodle's reach" and "this day in history" to highlight other doodles that have been used in the past.