On the day of the vernal equinox, Turkic peoples celebrate Navruz - the holiday of the arrival of spring and the New Year according to the astronomical solar calendar. It is hard to imagine modern Tatarstan without this colourful event, which has become a truly good and popular tradition over its thirty-six-year history in the republic.
Navruz was first celebrated in Tatarstan in 1988. The holiday was initiated by two postgraduate students of Kazan University, Amina Zalaltdinova and Firdus Devbash, who later headed the Tugan Tel cultural and educational society. Rafis Burganov supported their idea - in those years he was the second secretary of the Kazan City Committee.
"The end of the eighties was a period of national revival - culture was awakening, peoples were awakening and their desire to restore their own identity. So the Tatar people wanted to revive their traditions," said writer and publicist, candidate of philosophical sciences Firdus Devbash. - As a group of young graduate students at Kazan State University, we decided to restore the tradition of celebrating Nowruz in Tatarstan - our ancestors celebrated the holiday widely, but then it was forgotten for many years. Nowadays it is quick and easy to organise a holiday, but back then - in eighty-eight - we had to overcome a lot of difficulties. Amina Zalaltdinova, who had a lot of Komsomol experience, helped us a lot. Together with her we went to the city Komsomol committee to see Rafis Timerkhanovich.
"In those years, I was far from the history of Nowruz celebrations," Rafis Burganov complemented. - When two young but persistent postgraduate students came to me, I immediately asked the question: "How will we, the Komsomol, hold a religious holiday?". But the guys were well prepared - they brought literature and spoke in detail about the origins of the holiday.
It was difficult to organise such a thing in eighty-eighth year, but I wanted to contribute to the wave of new events - in those years there were the first beauty contests, skateboard competitions, rock concerts ... It seemed to us that now it is possible to do the impossible. And we did it - the first Nowruz celebration took place in the Youth Centre. We invited a lot of people - representatives of Tatar youth, cultural figures and artists. The celebration turned out to be beautiful, everyone was satisfied. Some smiled and laughed, and some cried, because they realised that the Tatar people once again had an opportunity to show themselves.
And now it is widely and brightly celebrated in every corner of the republic, including the Volga Region University, which brings together students from different countries. And each of them has an opportunity to see the beauty and originality of the Tatar culture".
Text: Daria Bezzubova
Photo: Pavel Zheleznyak
