One of the unique innovations of Iranian sailors is the marine Nowruz ritual, which was invented for traveling in the seas. Iranian sailors used the maritime calendar to start their sea voyages, which often lasted for more than nine months of the year. They started their journey on the first day of marine New Year, when the sea is calmer than other times. On this day, rituals are performed on the occasion of the beginning of the new maritime year, which is still performed in some areas.
The rules, regulations and characteristics of this calendar are passed down from experienced and old captains to sailors and farmers of the next generation. And for each of these times, one of the letters of the alphabet is considered. For example, the letter "B" is the symbol of the Maritime Nowruz (Bahri in Arabic), the letter "Z" is the symbol of the agricultural Nowruz (Zerai in Arabic), and the letter "S" is the symbol of Soheili Nowruz.
Maritime Nowruz
The first day of maritime Nowruz coincides with the first day of August. This day coincides with the end of sixty days of sea storms, and it is a day when the sea is calmer than other times, or from this day onward, it gradually calms down, and sailors adjust the time of their sea trips accordingly. Maritime Nowruz is more common among sailors of the Persian Gulf and Oman; and has been based on the movement and position of stars and constellations for a long time and does not have twelve months like the solar year or the Gregorian calendar.
Seasons of Maritime Calendar
In this calendar, 365 days of the year are divided into four seasons. The first three seasons in the nautical calendar have 100 days and the last season, which is summer, has 65 days. The first hundred days of the maritime calendar is known as spring of the sea. Because during these days, the sea has passed 65 days full of chaos and is facing peace and tranquility. According to the so-called Persian Gulf sailors, the sea has become kinder in this season, and it is the right season for sailing ships to start traveling in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Sea of Oman, and even the African and Chinese seas.
In the maritime calendar, the seasons are divided into ten ten-day parts; and each ten days have special characteristics for the people of the sea, based on which they make all their plans. For example, in the third decade of the first season of the maritime calendar, the southern Kush winds begin to blow, and in the fourth decade of this season, swimming in the sea and diving time ends.
Rituals of Maritime Nowruz
Many years ago, on the first day of Nowruz, before going to the sea, men would install some palm leaves on the doors of their houses and take domestic animals such as cows, goats, sheep, camels, etc. with them to the sea. Before the start of the trip, these people splashed colors on the beach, painted animal horns, and children spent hours playing and swimming in the sea. Women also went to the sea in groups after sunset. These people believe that on the first day of Nowruz, the sea water is healing and cleansing; and in this way, they would keep away suffering and calamity until the next year.
Maritime Nowruz ritual is similar in countries that use maritime calendar. For example Indian and Pakistani seafarers shed coconuts and bananas in the sea and wish for a calm year. They also go swimming in the sea for cleansing and calamity; and this is why some sources have mentioned that the ritual of swimming in the sea in the hope of having a pure and good year on the first day of the maritime calendar is one of the rituals of Hinduism.
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