Aroos-Gooleh ( fa, عروس گوله "Bride-Ghoul") is a traditional performance held in the Gilan Province, now a province in northwest

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, heralding the coming of

Nowruz Nowruz ( fa, نوروز, ; ), zh, 诺鲁孜节, ug, نەۋروز, ka, ნოვრუზ, ku, Newroz, he, נורוז, kk, Наурыз, ky, Нооруз, mn, Наурыз, ur, نوروز, tg, Наврӯз, tr, Nevruz, tk, Nowruz, ...

. It is a Gilani way of the narrative of the Amu Nowruz in which the old and the new years' symbol rise against each other. Although this

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

tradition was becoming obsolete, recently the Rural Museum of Gilan has decided to revive it and holds the performance in regular intervals The main characters of the play are Naz-Khanom, Ghol, and Pir Babo. Ghol takes a club, wears a bulky piece of clothing with bells on it, Pir makes himself like an old person with white beard and moustache, and Naz Khanom role is played by a young man dressed as a young woman. Pir and Ghol challenge to win the heart of Naz Khanom through the performance and at last they fight, Ghol succeeds and ends the play while dancing and singing with Naz Khanom. Naz Khanom is the symbol of righteousness and morality while the Ghol stands for evil-doings. During the performance it turns out that Naz Khanom teaches the Ghol the way to live with good manners and peace. The troupe performs at nights, when they are called to a neighborhood, they play there and receive in return rice, eggs, comfits, and sometimes money.

References

Gilan Province Iranian folklore Ghouls {{Iran-stub