license : Editorial Use Only
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license : Editorial Use Only
The Editorial Use Only license means that the image cannot be used for commercial advertising purposes.
license : Editorial Use Only
The Editorial Use Only license means that the image cannot be used for commercial advertising purposes.
license : Editorial Use Only
The Editorial Use Only license means that the image cannot be used for commercial advertising purposes.
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Yalda night in Bijar, Kurdistan
May 15, 2008 , IRANShab-e Yalda ("Yalda night") or Shab-e Chelleh ("night of forty") is an Iranian festival celebrated on the "longest and darkest night of the year," that is, in the night of the Northern Hemisphere's winter solstice. The longest and darkest night of the year is a time when friends and family gather together to eat, drink and read poetry (especially Hafez) until well after midnight. Fruits and nuts are eaten and pomegranates and watermelons are particularly significant. The red color in these fruits symbolizes the crimson hues of dawn and glow of life. The poems of Divan-e-Hafez, which can be found in the bookcases of most Iranians families, are intermingled with peoples' life and are read or recited during various occasions like this festival and at Nowruz.
Photo: Jamshid Farajvand Farda / IRAN IMAGES
