Iran / Happy New Year :), a photo from Tehran, East

Photographer's Note

Monday,
March 20th 2006 - at 06:25:35 PM Greenwich Meantime.
Esfand 29th 1384~Farvardin first 1385=March 20th 2006
Local time :Iran - Tehran 21:55:35 PM
................................................

The "Sofreh Haft Sin" is the spread,which the family gathers around to celebrate the New Year.
It is the focal point of the celebration and ensuing visits and as such Iranians take great care and pride in putting together a lavish and elaborate spread to signify all that they want in the New Year.

The word "Haft" means "Seven" and "Sin" stands for the "S" in the alphabet.
"Sofreh" means spread,the floor of which is usually a nice rich material or embroidered fabric.The spread contains the seven specific things that start with "S".
In addition to the seven items, you may place additional items on the sofreh that will signify renewal,happiness,wealth,good health or any thing that you desire for the New Year.

But,a list of suggested items for your sofreh :

1-Sabzeh:Spring Sprouts:Made from wheat or lentil this S signifies rebirth and renewal.

2-Senjed: A sweet,dry fruit of a lotus tree:
The fragrant and blooming lotus tree makes people fall in love so it is natural that its fruit would signify love and affection !

3-Sib: Apple:A big red apple represents health and beauty.
4-Samanu:Wheat Pudding:Wheat and wheat products signify sweetness and fertility.

5-Serkeh: Vinegar:White Vinegar signifies age and patience.
6-Somagh:Crushed Sumac berries:This S symbolizes the spice of life. Some say Somagh represents the color of the sunrise and with the sun all evil is conquered.

7-Seer:Garlic:This medicinal S is a sign of good health.
8-Optional S:Sekeh:Coins:Wealth and Prosperity
9-Optional S:Sonbol:Hyacinth Flower:Purple or pink represent life and beatuy.

10-Head of the Sofreh:A Mirror To bring light & brightness into the New Year.
11-Head of the Sofreh:Scriptures:Qoran,Bible,Torah, Avesta or other Scriptures:Symbolizes blessings and faith in the New Year.
12-....

:)
Happy New Year to Iranian all,
And Happy new Spring to all of my friends in the world.

yazdi, MiguelP, lestans, ChristianS, papagolf21, Fixfocus, weswang, KevRyan, Janice, azadys, jjcordier, ciec, ChrisJ, jhm, Amirsun, RGatward, nicol_g, isabela_sor, bip-bip, fereshteh, smash2707, Mondaychild, aspiringamateur has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

pix (206) 2006-03-22 9:52

Happy new Persian year and thanks for your nice photo,,, good year,,,

yazdi (460) 2006-03-22 10:32

Salam Mohammad, Hi;
wishing you and your family a very Happy and prosperous New Year again and thank you for the beautiful shot it is really nice, colourful, magical and perfectional done.
Regards!
Jamal

MiguelP (14470) 2006-03-22 10:36

Hi Mohammad, very nice photo and quite interesting note. I wish understanding for the world this new year and all the best for you and you beloved. I also would like to tell you that I deeply like the mood of the photo. Very well done. Take care.

Gerrit (62042) 2006-03-22 10:40

hI mOHAMMAD,
THANKS FOR THE BEAUTIFUL SPRINGTABLE AND A HPPY NEWYEAR.
gERRIT

carper (96) 2006-03-22 10:51

happy New year to you my friend,
and may you and your family have a very good time with a good healthiness, very good photo, good with the light and a good pov, very good job.
gr. jaap

lestans (17258) 2006-03-22 11:45

Happy new year, Mohammed!! And thank you for your note and for this colorful picture - looking like a "Happy New Year" postcard for us in TE!
Thank you
Livia

ChristianS (2997) 2006-03-22 12:23

Hi Mohammed,
Happy New Year and thank you for a very informative picture and note!

Regards, Christian

jmdaoudal (82) 2006-03-22 13:31

This is a very good reminiscence of one of my favorites "natures mortes" you posted at the same occasion last year, I kept to my portable computer ' desk nearly for one month :-))
Happy Iranese year to you Mohammad.
Friendly
Jean Michel

dkeus31 (27739) 2006-03-22 14:04

Happy new year my friend (even if I feel it is a little late for us Europeans ;o)
Nice colors and exposure.
Regards,
Didier

papagolf21 (152605) 2006-03-22 14:41

Bonsoir mon ami Mohammad,
Le nouvel an Iranien s’appelle Eid Norouz (Nowrouz : now = nouveau, rouz = jour), qui veut dire la fête du nouveau jour. L’année commence le 20 mars, le jour du printemps.

C'est la fête la plus importante des iraniens où qu 'ils soient depuis plus de 6000 ans. Elle date d'avant l'islam et le peuple iranien a pu le sauvegarder malgré les différentes invasions au cour de son histoire. Les festivités commencent le dernier Mardi de l'année qui finit, au coucher du soleil et se terminent le treizième jour de la nouvelle année qui commence.
Pour fêter le nouvel an les enfants mettent un habit neuf et les adultes leur donnent de l’argent comme cadeau. Les gens se rendent visite.
Chaque famille fait pousser sur des plateaux du blé et des lentilles pour fêter l’arrivée du printemps.
Mille pardons, Mohammad, d'ajouter ce texte à votre note, c'est simplement pour mieux faire comprendre aux pays francophones les us et coutumes de votre pays.
J'apprécie beaucoup ce genre de note et de photographie, cela nous apprend beaucoup sur ce qui se passe hors de nos frontières, et c'est ce qui fait tout l'intérêt de TE : échanger nos connaissances.
Amitiés.
Philippe

Fixfocus (9385) 2006-03-22 16:11

Hello Mohammad,
I remeber your posting from a year ago it was great,-and so is this one.Light and arrangement of the details is much different and put togehter in a lovely compo again.
A happy and healthy new year to you and your family!
Hermann

weswang (18247) 2006-03-22 16:38

Hi Mohammad, Happy New Year. Thanks for the informative shot with the educational notes. It is nice to have a good view of the culture and the tradition in one picture. You did good to show the mood, the environment in this shot.
Welcome back and we miss you during your absent in TE.

KevRyan (22956) 2006-03-22 18:44

A fantastic illustration to a fantastic note Mohammad - this really is such a wonderful custom full of rich meanings for the year ahead - really great sentiments for the family and for the whole world - very nice still life. A little late but nonetheless heartfelt wishes for you and yours this year!

best wishes Kev

Janice (4403) 2006-03-22 23:56

Happy 1385 Mohammad! Your celebrations and meals are very interesting to me, and I too wish you a Happy new Springtime too.
You display the "Sofreh Haft Sin" so well. The lighting and colours are great, and the items you tell us about are very informative, and we can see them all and understand why they are there.
Thank you my friend,
Janice

azadys (717) 2006-03-23 1:00

Hi Dear Mohammad.
let me congratulate you for Norouz and new year.
this pic is great , i like it and also your NOTE about norouz is nice.

regards
azad

quantabeh (5205) 2006-03-23 1:22

hi mohammad, this is a beautiful haftsin, very much so. nice shot, and happy new persian year to you as well.
regards,
Behrang

CliffW (2381) 2006-03-23 1:42

It's a beautiful still life Mohammad. The candle light gives a nice soft glow to everything, and you've done an excellent job of capturing it without the blur you can get with low light. The best for you and your family.

jjcordier (79299) 2006-03-23 4:27

Happy new Persian year and thanks for your very nice photo, very colored. Very good note
Congratulations
JJ

Galmeida (12559) 2006-03-23 4:48

Hi Mohammad,
Have a happy Persian New year to you and all family as well a happy new Spring. Thanks for your detailed informative notes and thanks also for your nice picture where we can see your country cultural tradition. Beautiful composition with light, colors and Spring Magic. Congratulations and all the best to you and family.

Fernando

ChrisJ (171146) 2006-03-23 5:07

Hi Mohammad & Happy New Year!

Wonderful color, lighting, & sharpness. I like the overall warm colors of yellow & red. Lots of details to study here. I like the twin candles. Tfs!

jhm (211734) 2006-03-23 8:06

HI best friend,
Mohammad I like this very lovely photograph through are very great feeling of serenity, we wish your and family a very good Persian new year.
Best regards,
John.

fereshteh (363) 2006-03-23 8:10

jenabe hesamian salam.
sale now bar shoma mobarak.
mamnoon ke be man sar zadid.
chashm .
tosieh hayetan ra aamal mikonam.
motazere naghd haye shoma hastam.
rasti che khoob 7sin ra taarif kardid. irani boodam irani tar shodam!!!!

gebala (0) 2006-03-23 9:40

hello Mohammad, beauty shot, I like this composition, exellent event:)I wish you all the best also all the best for you relations:) exellent warm composition:)exellent POV
well donr
rgs

futureuniverse (136) 2006-03-23 15:41 [Comment]

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Amirsun (2122) 2006-03-23 16:29

Salaam!
What a great shot from this nice "Haft Sin"! very good composition and light handling with a good note attached to it.
I thing you have more shot from this nice scene and maybe with a face reflect in that mirror ;)

Tanks for posting and have nice year!
Cheers, Amir

Gregtom (7169) 2006-03-24 4:40

Hello, Mohammad!
I didn't know the precise date of celebrating The New Year in Iran, but I will try now toremember! So, Happy New Year, my Friend! Very nicely composed scene with full of color!
regards,
Greg

RGatward (20108) 2006-03-24 9:31

Good carefully worked out still life providing an inforamtive illustration of this event.

johnhopkins (866) 2006-03-24 17:46

Hi Mohammad, Nice to see you posting this New Year and all my best for the coming year. The sharpness and all technical details are great but the strong thing here is the excellent mood that you captured.

Best wishes,
John

isabela_sor (47748) 2006-03-25 9:33

Happy New Year to you my friend!Norooz
Thank you for a very informative note!and for this beautiful picture!
All the best for you and your family

Berth (495) 2006-03-25 9:38

Hello Mohammad,
I'm glad to see so many very good pictures of your beautiful country. I've been three times in Iran with his very nice people and I hope to go back there!
Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Let there be PEACE!

flydragon (0) 2006-03-26 13:02

ho yes Mohammad
sorry a bit late
but happy new year for you and your family
nice shot to celebrate this ;o)
regards
••simon••

sorry green later

cessy (13647) 2006-03-27 0:55

belated happy new year :)
very nice decoration, love the warm atmosphere

bip-bip (1837) 2006-03-27 16:39

A very detailed shot nicely composed with beautiful warm colors
Great informative note
Happy New Year !
Véro

smash2707 (3320) 2006-04-03 12:31

Well composed, good colors and very interesting note. Regards, Yvonne

danielswalsh (13597) 2006-04-05 20:11

Great shot Mohammad;

If you were to look up the definition of TrekEarth in the Encyclopedia- this image would sum it all up. Learning about a different culture through photography.
Excellent note giving some insite into Iranian customs that many (including myself) were not privy to.

Thanks for sharing Mohammad!
- Dan

Mondaychild (378) 2006-10-14 8:44

Hi Mohammad,

very very interesting photo, colorful composition. The light is magical. Your explanation is very interesting and useful.