Culture and traditions Azerbaijan

 Traditions and customs

The Nevruz is the name given to New Year's Day by the Turks living in Central Asia, the Anatolian Turks, and the Iranians. The Nevruz occurs on the 22 March of our era and 9 March of the Gregorian calendar.
Nevruz lasts for three days in Azerbaijan and it is celebrated every year with big ceremonies between 21 and 23 March. The most important day after Nevruz is the 'ahir çerþenbe', or the last Wednesday - this day is called 'ýlin ahir tek tek'. The Wednesdays in the four weeks of the month of the celebration are also of great importance, and it is on the Tuesday before the 'ahir çerþenbe', that men go to the cemetery to recite the fatiha, a sura from the Koran, while women go to the cemetery with halva, pilaf rice and other dishes that they have prepared.

The most important day after the Nervruz is the "ahir çerçenhe". One of the customs of this feast is to throw rings in the water. A container filled with water is put in the middle of the living room; the girls sit around it, and throw their ring into it. The container is covered with a cloth, one of the girls takes a ring out, pronouncing the improvised quatrain, and dedicates it to the person to whom the ring belongs.

The next day, before dawn, people go to the water source and wash their hands and faces there. The girls attach the thumbs of their two hands together with some thread and jump over the water, then cut the thread, and throw it into the water. This makes them believe that they will have a good destiny and a good suitor. Those going to the water source collect seven small stones near the source that they put into a bottle of water. These stones stay at the bottom of the bottle and on their return they cut three branches from a mulberry tree that they take home and keep until the next "ahir çerþenbe".

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Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan: Lonely planet guide (ed.2004).