Azerbaijan celebrates First Tuesday of Novruz

Baku. 21 February. REPORT.AZ/ This day is celebrated on the first Tuesday. Report informs, Water Tuesday (Su Chershenbesi) launches the first preparations for spring holiday.

The Spring is coming, which means the festive Novruz Holiday won’t keep us waiting. Novruz, loved by all Azerbaijanis, is celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox and symbolizes a new life.

Novruz celebrations begin a month before the actual holiday. The four Tuesdays named after these elements and called Su Chershenbesi (Water Tuesday), Od Chershenbesi (Fire Tuesday), Hava Chershenbesi (Wind Tuesday), and Ilakhir Chershenbe or Torpaq Chershenbesi (Earth or Last Tuesday) are being celebrated before the main holiday.

Each Tuesday has its own traditions. This year, the first Tuesday, or Water Tuesday, falls on February 21. Water is a symbol of purification and clarification.

Each Tuesday has its own traditions. Folk belief has it thatwaterpurifies and stirs, fire, earth and wind awaken the nature, and trees begin to blossom, symbolizing the coming of spring.

Since God created man from water and earth, water symbolizes the beginning of life, and legend has it that water is renewed on this day.

On this day, young girls used to walk to springs in the mountains to get pure water, and came back with water in their Sahangs, a traditional Azeri jug made of metal with special carvings on it. Girls used to splash water around their houses and on their relatives' faces. A bowl of water in the Khoncha, a Novruz tray with nuts and sweets, is a required attribute of Water Tuesday.