Yalda is one of the most important and interesting customs of Iran which its history backs to 7000 years ago when the Iranians could invent a calendar based on the sun. Yalda is held on the thirteenth of Azar (21st of December) which is the longest night of the year and people try to not to sleep until morning. Yalda night is only some seconds longer than the other nights but when I was a child I thought that it is some hours longer. Yalda is basically a Syriac word which means birth. Zoroastrians believed that Yalda is the day of Mithra’s birth. Not only Zoroastrians but also Europeans believe in this. It is believed that the original celebration of Christians is the birthday of Mithra. (21st of December) and this day was celebrated in Rome and other parts of Europe by Mithraists. Nowadays Christians celebrate Christmas on the day of Jesus Christ’s birthday, but this is an idea spread by the churches, because the Christians don’t know the exact day Jesus Christ’s birthday. 
The coincidence of this day with Jewish Hanukkah (festival of light) is not an accident because all of them believe that this day is the birthday of Mithra. After the forth century A.D., the day of Mithra’s birthday changed to 25th of December which is the Christmas. It is supposed that the cloths of Santa Claves is like the Zoroastrian clergymen’s and the star above the pine tree is a sign of an Iranian religion. Moreover the old Iranians believe that light, warmth, and the day are the signs of God and night, darkness, and cold are the signs of evil. So the longer the days are, the more they have victory so they celebrated Yalda night, because from the next day of that night, the days were longer.
In Yalda night all the family gather in the house of a grandfather and grandmother and eat special things, the most important is watermelon; you can’t find family without watermelon on Yalda night in Iran. Other things are pomegranate, dried nuts and fruits, and roasted wheat. Each one of these things is a sign. They stand for blessing, health, happiness, and etc.. People eat watermelon because they believe that eating it can protect their health against cold of winter and other diseases.
One of the old legends about Yalda night is that in that night a rich man in cloths of a wood cutter comes to the house of poor people and gives them some pieces of wood and in the morning all the woods change to gold, so the poor family becomes rich. The best part of Yalda night is consulting with Hafiz and reading his poems.
In some parts of Iran, families read Shahnameh of Ferdosi. Some families have a kind of fortune telling with walnut. They break it and tell the fortune according to what is inside the walnut. Yalda night is the best night of the year for all the people in Iran with its stories and foods.
The coincidence of this day with Jewish Hanukkah (festival of light) is not an accident because all of them believe that this day is the birthday of Mithra. After the forth century A.D., the day of Mithra’s birthday changed to 25th of December which is the Christmas. It is supposed that the cloths of Santa Claves is like the Zoroastrian clergymen’s and the star above the pine tree is a sign of an Iranian religion. Moreover the old Iranians believe that light, warmth, and the day are the signs of God and night, darkness, and cold are the signs of evil. So the longer the days are, the more they have victory so they celebrated Yalda night, because from the next day of that night, the days were longer.
In Yalda night all the family gather in the house of a grandfather and grandmother and eat special things, the most important is watermelon; you can’t find family without watermelon on Yalda night in Iran. Other things are pomegranate, dried nuts and fruits, and roasted wheat. Each one of these things is a sign. They stand for blessing, health, happiness, and etc.. People eat watermelon because they believe that eating it can protect their health against cold of winter and other diseases.
One of the old legends about Yalda night is that in that night a rich man in cloths of a wood cutter comes to the house of poor people and gives them some pieces of wood and in the morning all the woods change to gold, so the poor family becomes rich. The best part of Yalda night is consulting with Hafiz and reading his poems.
In some parts of Iran, families read Shahnameh of Ferdosi. Some families have a kind of fortune telling with walnut. They break it and tell the fortune according to what is inside the walnut. Yalda night is the best night of the year for all the people in Iran with its stories and foods.
2 comments:
Dear Leili,
You have a wonderful blog. I enjoyed it. Keep it honey!
Love,
Parisa
Dear Leili,
I enjoyed reading about what you've said about Yalda. Thanks for the information. You mentioned things that I didn't know about, like fortune telling with walnut.
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