Uzbekistan is home to a diverse people and, as a major centre of trade along the Silk Road, has a rich history. Its culture is marked by a warm and generous hospitality in which visitors quickly become welcomed friends. It seemed fitting then, that the Bahá’í community invited many friends and neighbours to join in celebrating the anniversary of Bahá’u’lláh's birth — over five hundred people attended more than 17 celebrations across the country.

At many of these festive occasions, guests were served the traditional Uzbek dish ‘plov’. In many places, additional dishes were taken to neighbours who were unable to attend, in order to share with them the spirit of the bicentenary period.