Diraz... an Algerian custom to celebrate the Amazigh New Year
Coinciding with the celebrations of the Amazigh New Year, which begins on the twelfth of January, and over the course of three days, most Algerian families prepare for the "Diraz" party, which is the most prominent festive ritual of "Nair" or the Amazigh New Year.
This custom has been ingrained in the lives of Algerians over generations, and families have preserved it, father and grandfather, as it strengthens family unity and community cohesion.
And "Al-Draz" is about preparing a pottery-wood dish, in which a group of nuts and sweets are placed, to be poured on the head of the youngest child in the family. Then the eldest member of the family in terms of age distributes these sweets to all its members. It is a ritual of celebrations on the occasion of the opening of the agricultural year.
This celebration is prepared on the third day of the Amazigh year, which falls on January 13 of the year, when women in the homes prepare “al-Draz” or “sweets of the year”, indicating that preparations have begun for the reception of the new year, in a way called in Algeria as “sweets”. New Year's Day", in a scene that expresses joy and happiness, and for the year to be sweet despite the bitterness of living conditions.
In eastern Algeria, for example, this custom is called "al-qashasha", which is also sweets, dry fruits and nuts mixed with each other. As the women distribute them to the children, who usually go out to knock on the doors of the neighbors from one end of the street to the other, asking for these sweets.
The children, while knocking on the doors, repeat a song in which the name of the young child in the concerned family is mentioned, to attract the attention of his mother or the elders of the family, and in turn they open the door for them, after which the sweets are distributed to them.
Algerians consider this habit to be one of the most important customs of welcoming the year of production and waiting for an abundant harvest, and because “Diraz” has to do with the sweetness of living, seeking livelihood and joy, which explains the families’ keenness to prepare a dish that includes sweets, in addition to the child, whether male or female, wearing clothes. traditional. As the child sits on a large plate, and the mother or father pours the plate of sweets on the child’s head, in an intimate and joyful atmosphere among the members of the same family.
Given the interest of Algerians in this habit during the Amazigh year celebrations, merchants in shops and markets excel in displaying and selling sweets mixed with nuts mixed with each other, coinciding with the celebrations. It witnesses a great turnout among Algerians, and this trade flourishes during New Year's celebrations, and even on the occasion of the Prophet's birthday.
Source : websites