A flurry of color fills Nineveh for Yazidi New Year festivities
On Thursday, the Yazidi community celebrated their New Year in an annual ritual with a profound spiritual and cultural character, embodying the uniqueness of this ancient component of the region's social and religious fabric.
This occasion is one of the most prominent holidays for the Yazidis, as they celebrate it with a series of religious and traditional rituals that reflect the depth of their beliefs and traditions passed down through generations.
Idal Jamal, a citizen from Bashiqa, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "We gathered today with everyone to celebrate the Yazidi holiday known as (Sari Sal), which is one of our most important religious holidays. Among the rituals of the holiday are hanging roses on doors and decorating eggs with bright colors."
She added, "The holiday is a major religious occasion during which family and relatives meet, visits are made to shrines, and people express their joy on this special occasion."
For his part, Janan Elias, a citizen from Bashiqa, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), "The Yazidi New Year is one of the most important religious occasions. We celebrate it because it is the day on which we believe the universe was created. We all come together to celebrate amidst nature, where we color eggs with colors derived from green nature and perform special rituals that include prayers and making wishes."
He added, "Our eternal wish is for this holiday to be a holiday of goodness and peace for all Iraqi people, everywhere."
Murad Khairy, a citizen from the Bahzani district, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), "We celebrate this occasion annually in April. Special events are held to spread a message of love and peace to the world. It is also an opportunity to revive Yazidi heritage and culture, whose roots date back thousands of years."
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