Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts is planning for a call for inscribing the national festival of Yalda on UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2021.
Tehran is after having the national festival of Yalda inscribed on UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2021, Iranian Deputy Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft Seyed Amin Saneey Mehri broke the news on Saturday in a piece released on local media.
This 7000-year tradition has gone beyond the boundaries of Iran and has been discussed as a global intangible heritage, intended to be inscribed in UNESCO world heritages in 2021, he added.
The tangible and intangible heritage of each country is considered as its historic identity, and the authorities try to attract more tourists to their countries through inscription of their cultural and historical heritages in global lists, Saneey Mehri noted.
Till now, Iran has managed to inscribe 14 intangible heritages, the last of which has been Iran’s traditional skills of crafting and playing the Dotar (string instrument), registered during the 14th session of Intangible World Heritage Committee in Colombia, he highlighted.
However, it should not be forgotten that people play a vital role in safeguarding the ancient heritage of Yalda. The elderly know many secrets about various cultures and traditions related to this night and can help the inscription of this heritage as its narrators. Only then the tradition can be transferred to the next generations in an intact and perfect way, he said.
Iranian families decorate their tables with pomegranates, watermelons, and dried fruits resembling the summer time as a way to assure the family all will be well throughout the coming winter months.
Yalda always includes a recitation of the poems of Hafez, usually by a family elder.
Since ancient times, storytelling has been a great part of Yalda Night ceremonies, with Naqqali becoming a main feature. In a dramatic performance, the Naqqal recounts epic stories in verse or prose about ancient or mythical Persian kings and heroes.
Stories have always been a special and almost inseparable part of Yalda, for most of us choose to lose and find ourselves in them through the long dark nights, and Yalda of course is the longest of them all.
People mark the festive occasion in Iran and Central Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and some Caucasian states like Azerbaijan and Armenia on December 21 every year.
Yalda Night is one of the oldest Persian traditions and its history dates back to thousands of years ago.
Ancient Persians believed that on this night, the sun was saved from the claws of darkness thus materializing the triumph of good over evil.
Iranians celebrate Yalda by gathering at the home of the elders until after midnight and eating dried fruits, nuts, and winter fruits like pomegranates, which symbolizes the red color of dawn in the sky.
They also practice bibliomancy with poems of Persian poet Hafez, who is believed to have had the ability to see the future and his collection of poems have been used by Iranians as a source of mystic foresight.
Each member of the family makes a wish and opens the Hafez book of poems to a random page and reads the poem on it. Iranians believe the poem gives an interpretation of the wish and points to things that will happen in the future.
Yalda Night was officially added to Iran’s List of National Treasures during a special ceremony in 2008.
Iranians from all walks of life in all around the world purchase huge amounts of dried and fresh fruits, nuts, pastries and sweets beforehand to treat their guests and visitors during the family parties at that night of national festival of Yalda. Pomegranate and watermelon are the top favorite fruits of the Yalda night parties.
Fars