Fifty cultural organizations have requested the registration of ancient rituals with correct names in the calendar.
The complete text of the letter, which these organizations have prepared with the efforts of the Association of Separation, was delivered to the Presidency on Thursday, the first day of Azar, as follows:
In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful
Respected President and Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, Mr. Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi
Greetings and salutations. Based on recent decisions made by the Public Culture Council of Iran, two ancient Iranian rituals, Shab Chelleh or Yalda Night on the last night of Azar month, and the last Wednesday of the year, which is the time for Chaharshanbe Suri ceremony, will be officially recognized and registered as cultural promotion day and neighbor appreciation day in the country’s official calendar, starting from the year 1403. As you may be aware, these namings have been perceived as the elimination of ancient rituals, leading to a wave of dissatisfaction on social networks where people can freely express their opinions or convey their harmonious views. Consequently, the secretariat of the mentioned council had no choice but to issue statements clarifying that Yalda Night will not be removed from the calendar and will be listed alongside the new name, and the last Wednesday of the year will also be included with its new name. Prior to this, it was not generally included in the calendar, but in our belief, questions still remain. Therefore, we kindly request an official statement regarding this matter, as the concerns persist.
1 Now that forty-five years have passed since the Islamic Revolution and the people have demonstrated their commitment to national affairs and cultural identity by observing these rituals and the beautiful tradition of Sizdah Bedar, despite all the negative government propaganda and occasional harsh crackdowns during the celebration of the Nature Day, it is not yet time to officially recognize these traditions with their proper and historical names on the official calendar.
2 Is the attempt to distort these traditions a new policy pursued in order to avoid responding to efforts to undermine them?
3 Do you not know that researchers, when examining the history of these traditions, find that there have been significant events in our medieval and Islamic history that are intertwined with these ancient rituals? And fundamentally, these rituals are not affiliated with any religious ideology, although they may have had a religious connection in the beginning, in a very distant history.
4. Have we not experienced in recent years how dealing with traditions like Chaharshanbe Suri has led to controlled and uncertain firework displays reaching the hands of our children, causing harm to some Iranian families, while these same fireworks are easily and extensively supported for events aligned with government policies, even organized by government institutions?
5. Can’t you clearly see how traditions originating from distant cultures, which sometimes have very weak symbolism and meanings, are spreading in Iran and Iranian territories, causing us to lose this rich cultural source of ancient celebrations and traditions that have mostly assimilated Islamic rituals and are deeply intertwined with our culture? How does it deprive us of having a cultural tool to defend our historical and identity assets?
Why have the officials gathered in Iran’s Public Culture Council seen the need to introduce traditions that may not be very accurate, alongside the Yalda night, on the day of promoting the culture of gathering and connecting with relatives, while the purpose of gathering on this night is to be at the home of the extended family, not to go to parties and see and be seen like Norooz and the day of honoring neighbors on Charshanbeh Soori, which is meaningless, even if they had a glimpse of the tradition of spoon-banging, which surely was not considered by those officials.
But the main question here is, based on what research and conversations with which history and culture professors or ethnographers have these titles emerged, and how have unrelated individuals to the history of national literature and art allowed themselves to make decisions about something they are unaware of, and unfortunately sometimes show hostility towards it? For example, even with cultural councils that suggested registering Chelleh night in the calendar, there was no consultation.
Dear President, now that your colleagues have unintentionally opened an opportunity to draw attention to this matter, we kindly request that you order the proper and historical names of these national ceremonies to be considered for next year’s calendar, without any excessive or insufficient titles. Furthermore, we urge the government officials to fully cooperate in organizing these ceremonies with the utmost collaboration with the people.
Thank you and best regards,
On behalf of the following civil organizations
1 Union of Scientific Student Associations in Architecture, Conservation, and Urban Planning of Iran 2 Cultural Association of Afras 3 Tourist Guide Association of Tehran Province 4 Association of Curators of Iran 5 Sustainable Green Ring Association of Tehran Province 6 Third Line Association of Hormozgan Province 7 Association of New Ideas of Tehran Province 8 Association for the Development of Citizenship Rights of Tehran Province 9 Parsigan Mehrboom Association of Tehran Province 10 Association of New Coffeehouse Paintings of Tehran Province 11 Cultural Heritage Association of Nojan Karoon of Khuzestan Province 12 Friends of Timreh Association of Isfahan Province 13 Mehrgan Parto Pezhuh Association of Tehran Province 14 Village Green Association of Tehran Province 15 Isatis Cultural Association of Tehran Province 16 Heritage Guardians Association of Zanjan Rud of Isfahan Province 17 Friends of Rig and Aftab Land Association of South Khorasan Province 18 Dena Coffee Gazelle Association of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province 19 Friends of Cultural Heritage Association of Fars Province 20 Pars Museum Association of Siraf of Bushehr Province 21 Shahnameh Reading Association of Genzkanameh of West Azerbaijan Province 22 Zagros Biologists Association of Lorestan Province 23 Sarv Sayehfekan Association of Tehran Province 24 Animal and Environmental Protection Association of Tehran 25 Friends of Enduring Monuments Association of Qazvin Province 26 Friends of Shahroud Cultural Heritage Association of Semnan Province 27 Water Peace Association of Semnan Province 28 Literary and Cultural Association of Shabahang of Mazandaran Province 29 Iranian Cave and Speleology Association 30 Sepid Pars Youth Association of Mazandaran Province 31 Friends of Cultural Heritage Association of Tiran and Karvan County of Isfahan Province 32 History and Cultural Heritage Association of Iranians of Alborz Province 33 Friends of Historical Monuments and Landmarks of Nushabad Association of Isfahan Province 34 Friends of Demab Association of Isfahan Province 35 Mahruseh Iran Architecture Association of Tehran Province 36 Friends of Tariana Cultural Heritage Association of Khuzestan Province 37 Qazvin Horizon Cultural Association 38 Alighapu Historical and Cultural Association of Qazvin Province 39 Friends of Shush Association of Khuzestan Province 40 Institute for Supporting Growth and Development of Tehran Province 41 Young Artists Institute of Genzak of West Azerbaijan Province 42 Sustainable Development Institute of Green Space of Semnan Province 43 International Institute of Human Nature Wildlife of Tehran Province 44 Mehrazan Future Civilization Institute of Qom Province 45 Pars Youth Center of Fars Province 46 Tasnim House of Damghan of Semnan Province 47 Iran Processors House of Tehran Province 48 People’s Documents and Cultural Identity Center of Shahroud of Semnan Province 49 Seenheban People’s Group of Estahban of Fars Province 50 Guardians of Cultural and Natural Heritage of Iran
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