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EveryParampara

Traditions with rose water

Rose water, made by distilling rose petals, is an old perfume and flavouring of Persia, which spread across the Middle East, Central Asia, India and North Africa.

Rose water, made by distilling rose petals, is an old perfume and flavouring of Persia, which spread across the Middle East, Central Asia, India and North Africa. It is added to sweets, drinks and rice, sprinkled on guests' hands, and used in religious ceremonies. The damask roses of Kashan in Iran and Kelaa M'Gouna in Morocco are harvested each spring with festivals. These pages describe the traditions where rose water is used.

Where it is used

In Iran, rose water flavours the ice cream bastani, the sweets of Nowruz and the tea, and in Kashan the Golab-giri festival is held in May. In Morocco, it perfumes pastries and is sprinkled on guests' hands, in Turkey, it flavours lokum, Turkish delight, and in India, it is in gulab jamun and lassi. In Lebanon, it features in ma'amoul and desserts, and in Pakistan, kheer.

What it means

The offering of rose water to a visitor, from a silver sprinkler, is a sign of welcome in Iran and Morocco. Washing the Kaaba and the shrines is traditionally done with it. In weddings, it is sprinkled on the couple and guests. The flower and its scent are symbols of love and poetry, from Rumi and Hafez to Omar Khayyam, and a bowl of rose petals is part of a Persian new year table.

About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Rose water (spice). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
KindSpiritualFestivalRite of passageTable customSeasonalDressPerformanceEtiquetteCraftGameFolkloreHomeCeremony
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇷 Shiraz, IranHaft-sinهفتسین Seven symbolic items whose Persian names begin with S, set out for NowruzSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals 🇧🇬 Kazanlak, BulgariaRose FestivalФестивал на розата An annual harvest celebration of damask roses across the Rose Valley of BulgariaFestival 🇮🇳 India and 1 morePunjabi wedding traditions The multi-day marriage customs and rituals of Hindu and Sikh Punjabi familiesRite of passage · Sweets given and shared

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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