Nowruz is the Iranian or Persian New Year celebrated by various ethnic groups worldwide. It is a festival based on the spring equinox—which marks the first day of the new year in the Iranian Solar Hijri calendar, on or around 21 March on the Gregorian calendar.
Image: Haft sin, Nowruz, Still life 3205068
Image: Novruz holiday 1
Image: Mountain child
Image: Traditional costume for Nowruz
The March equinox or northward equinox is the equinox on the Earth when the subsolar point appears to leave the Southern Hemisphere and cross the celestial equator, heading northward as seen from Earth. The March equinox is known as the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and as the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.
Bas-relief in Persepolis, a symbol of Iranian Nowruz: a bull (symbolizing the Earth) and lion (the Sun) in eternal combat are equal in power on the equinox.
Chichen Itza during the spring equinox—Kukulkan, the famous descent of the snake
Equinox at the site of Pizzo Vento, Fondachelli Fantina, Sicily