Sizdah Be-dar
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Sīzdah-be-dar or Sēzdah-ba-dar (Persian سیزده بدر) is the Persian Festival of "Joy and Solidarity" celebrated on the 13th day (sizdah) day of the new year and the month of Farvardin (corresponding to April 2), the last day of the Norouz (Iranian New Year) period. This is the last phase of the New Year's celebrations which begins with the fire festival of Chaharshanbe Suri. of the Persian New Year. The custom is to spend the day outdoors e.g., in the parks or the countryside. It is believed that "Joy" and "Laughter" clean the mind from all evil thoughts, and the picnic is usually a festive or happy event. In 2008, Sizdah-bedar coincided with April 1[1].
In modern times people go to parks, have a picnic and throw their sabzeh – the sprouts they grow near the beginning of Norooz - into a river, symbolizing the cycle of life. Some girls also tie the sprouts of sabzeh on this day, symbolizing their wish for good fortune in life and love. Some people also pull practical jokes and tell white lies on this day, calling it the thirteenth lie (this is very similar to April Fools). People will also release goldfish into a pond or river.
Sizdah is also known as the rule of Balban where a person shouldn't turn his back to his Sultan[citation needed].
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[edit] Etymology
The word Sīzdah (or Sēzdah) means "thirteen", and be-dar (or ba-dar), means "to get rid of", i.e. "Sizdah Be-dar" means "getting rid of the thirteen"!
[edit] Customs and Traditions
Traditionally, people play jokes on each other on this day. It is believed to be the oldest prank-tradition in the world still alive today, which has led many to believe that the origins of the April Fools Day goes back to this tradition which is believed to have been celebrated by Persians as far back as 536 BC.
Iranian people/(Iranians) have a tradition of gathering their family members and grouping them together with the other families to spend a full day of picnic outdoors among the other countrymen at the beauty of the nature, on the 13th/last day of Nowrouz celebrations. This kind of "joy and solidarity" has been celebrated among Iranian/Persian people for thousands of years, every year, in the same day, 13th day of the first month of the Iranian/Persian Calendar.
Another tradition on the Sizdah Bedar, is the knotting of blades of grass by unmarried girls in hope of finding a good companion at these kind of celebrations. The other family members may also meet the others at the festival and find possible candidates for their unmarried daughters, as well as sons, and to make arrangements for their proper introduction at later time! The knotting of the grass represents love and the bond between a man and a woman.
A ritual performed at the end of the picnic day is to throw away the Sabzeh from the Nowruz' Haftsin table. The sabzeh is supposed to have collected all the sickness, pain and ill fate hiding on the path of the family throughout the coming year! Touching someone else's sabzeh on this thirteenth day or bringing it home, therefore, is considered to be bad omen, and may invite other peoples' pain and hardship to oneself.
Sizdah-Bedar is also believed to be a special day to ask for rain. In ancient Iran, every day had its own name, and belonged to a different yazat (Zoroastiena deity). The 13th day of month of Farvardin denoted to the deity of rain, Tir, which is depicted as a horse. Sizdah-Bedar is also a day for competitive games. Games involving horses were often chosen since the horse represented the deity of rain.
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