Nowruz or Navroz, the Parsi New Year, which is believed to mark the beginning of spring, is celebrated today. Google has also dedicated today's doodle to 'Nowruz 2025'. The festival's real name is Jamshed-i-Navroz, named after the Persian king Jamshed, who is believed to have created the Persian calendar. India's Parsis, or the Zoroastrian community, celebrate the occasion every year around March 21 by decorating their homes, engaging in prayers, enjoying special dishes and wearing new attires. As most of India's Parsis live in Gujarat and Maharashtra, Nowruz celebrations are best experienced at various spots in these states.
However, Parsi temples exist in other cities like Chennai and Kolkata. Indian Parsis celebrate the festival twice every year - the date of the fest as per the Iranian Fasli calendar and the one according to the Shahenshahi (Zoroastrian) calendar, widely used by Indian Parsis. The Indian Nowruz falls around July or August every year. 

Here are a few of them:
1) Iranshah Atash Behram, Gujarat
The temple, located in Gujarat's Udvada in Valsad, the most sacred and oldest temple of Zoroastrians in India. On Nowruz, the temple gets decked up with flowers and special prayers are conducted. However, just like other Parsi temples, non-Parsis are not allowed inside. Regardless, even the temple's exterior is very beautiful and the town also has a rich Parsi heritage, where visitors can enjoy Nowruz-special Parsi food like Salli Boti, Lagan Nu Custard and Dhansak. 

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2) Iran Culture House, Mumbai
The establishment, run by the Iranian consulate, conducts various events like the 'Nowruz Cup,' a football tournament. They also gather at the New Marine Lines in South Mumbai, near Churchgate station, for prayers, readings and chants. Maharashtra also has various cafes and restaurants that prepare special Parsi food on the occasion of Nowruz, which can be tasted by non-Parsi people as well. Zeresh polo - a pulao made with branberries and tender chicken, chelo kebabs and mohi sabji polo are some of the popular dishes. 

3) Jal Phiroj Clubwala Dar-e-Meher, Chennai
It's a 113-year-old building in Chennai's Royapuram, best known as the Royapuram fire temple. It is located on Arathoon Road and is the only fire temple in Chennai. 
There are around 100 fire temples in India. 'Nowroz has had a search volume of more than 200K on Google Trends in the past nine hours. 

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