GILGIT: Jashn-i-Nauroz is being celebrated across GilgitBaltistan today (Tuesday), marking the beginning of the New Year in the Persian calendar.

Mostly, Shia and Ismaili communities celebrate the day.

The Gilgit-Baltistan government has announced official holiday on the occasion.

Games like polo and traditional musical programmes will be organised, besides special dishes will be prepared and distributed among relatives and friends. Children and women dressed in new clothes will go to each other`s houses and exchange greetings.

Congregations will be held in different towns where special prayers will be offered for the prosperity of the country.

In Hunza-Nagar, Nauroz coincides with start of agriculture activities, as people start ploughing their fields.

Safdar Mirza, a resident of Nagar, said he did not want to miss the Nauroz event. `I do not know the historical importance of the day, but for me it is an event that heralds arrival of spring season after long harsh winter,` he added.

Mirza said most attractive feature of Nauroz was `Chi, Chi`, a traditional get together of women, children and elders in every village. `The highlight of these functions is that a newborn dressed in new clothes is placed on the shoulders of an elder who then carries the baby to some distance,` he said.

He maintained that families of babies brought dry fruits, homemade traditional dishes and sweets for distribution among the participants.

Another interesting feature of Nauroz celebration in Hunza-Nagar is the competitions of swinging among girls.

In Baltistan, an interesting feature of Nauroz is breaking of painted eggs by boys. Liaqat Ali Anjum, a resident of Skardu, explained that every competitor brought an egg to the ceremony, where they tried to break it with another egg.

Each time the egg was broken the winner was given an egg by the loser. -Correspondent