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Liber XXXVI · Zoroastrianism

Liber XXXVI · Zoroastrianism · Chapter VI: Parsis & Modern Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrian Calendar and Festivals: Nowruz to the Gahambars

The Zoroastrian calendar and festivals: the 30 named days, the Shahenshahi, Kadmi and Fasli calendars, Nowruz, the six Gahambars, Muktad, Mehregan and Sadeh.

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The Zoroastrian calendar is a solar year of twelve months of thirty days plus five extra "Gatha days", in which every day and every month is dedicated to a divine being, and its great festivals include Nowruz, the New Year at the spring equinox, the six seasonal feasts called Gahambars, and the ten days of Muktad devoted to the souls of the dead. Because the old calendar had no leap year, Zoroastrians today follow three different reckonings — Shahenshahi, Kadmi and Fasli — so the same festival can fall on different dates for different communities.

How the Zoroastrian Calendar Works§

The calendar used by Zoroastrians since at least the Sasanian period is a 365-day year: twelve months of thirty days and five additional days, the Gatha days, named after the five Gathas of Zarathustra (see Zarathustra and the Gathas). Its origins are debated. Many scholars think a Young Avestan calendar was reformed under the Achaemenids, perhaps in the fifth or fourth century BCE, on the model of the Egyptian civil year, which also had twelve months of thirty days and five extra days.

Each day of the month bears the name of a divine being. The first day is Ohrmazd (Ahura Mazda); days two to seven belong to the six Amesha Spentas — Bahman, Ardibehesht, Shahrevar, Spendarmad, Khordad and Amardad; and the rest to yazatas such as Adar (fire), Aban (the waters), Khorshed (the sun), Mah (the moon), Tir, Mehr (Mithra), Srosh, Rashnu, Fravardin (the fravashis), Bahram and Ram. Three further days are dedicated to the Creator under the name Dae, so that Ahura Mazda presides over each quarter of the month. The twelve months carry the names of twelve of these beings, beginning with Fravardin.

When the day and the month share a name, the coincidence is celebrated as a feast. Thus Aban day of Aban month honours the waters, and Parsi women in particular make offerings at the sea, rivers and wells; Adar day of Adar month honours fire; and Mehr day of Mehr month is Mehregan, the ancient festival of Mithra (on the god, see Mithra and the Roman Mithraic mysteries).

Three Calendars: Shahenshahi, Kadmi and Fasli§

The drift of the year§

A year of exactly 365 days loses about a quarter of a day against the solar year, so its festivals move gradually through the seasons — roughly one day every four years. Some sources report that Sasanian priests corrected this by adding a month every 120 years, but after the fall of the empire the correction lapsed, and the calendar has drifted ever since.

The kabiseh controversy§

When Iranian and Indian Zoroastrians resumed contact, they discovered that their calendars differed by one month, apparently because the Parsis had once inserted an intercalary month that the Iranians had not. In the eighteenth century, after an Iranian priest arrived in Surat, a group of Parsi priests and laymen adopted the Iranian reckoning, calling it Kadmi ("ancient"), while the majority kept their own, which came to be called Shahenshahi ("imperial"). The resulting dispute — the kabiseh (intercalation) controversy — was bitter, dividing families and congregations and at times leading to violence. Both groups survive, and Kadmi Parsis maintain their own fire temples.

The Fasli calendar§

In the early twentieth century reformers in Bombay proposed a third calendar, the Fasli ("seasonal"), which keeps the old months and day names but adds a leap day every four years and begins the year at the spring equinox, on 21 March. A version of this reform, known as the Bastani calendar, was adopted by many Zoroastrians in Iran. Today the Shahenshahi New Year falls in August, the Kadmi about a month earlier, and the Fasli in March. The calendar disputes form part of the history told in Parsis and modern Zoroastrianism.

Nowruz: The New Year at the Spring Equinox§

Nowruz, "New Day", celebrated at the spring equinox, is the most widely observed Iranian festival, shared by Zoroastrians, Muslims, Baha'is and others across Iran, Central Asia, the Caucasus and the diaspora; it was inscribed on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list in 2009. Zoroastrian tradition links it with the legendary king Jamshid, and Parsis call the equinox festival Jamshedi Navroz. In Zoroastrian theology the new year anticipates the final renovation of the world, when creation will be made new.

Customs include cleaning and renewing the house, new clothes, visits to family and friends, and the setting of a festive table. Among Iranians this is the haft-sin, seven items whose Persian names begin with the letter sin, such as sprouted grains, apples and vinegar; a mirror, candles, painted eggs and, in many homes, a copy of a sacred or poetic book are added. Parsis following the Shahenshahi or Kadmi calendars also celebrate their own New Year, Navroz in late summer, preceded by Pateti, a day associated with repentance (patet) for the sins of the past year. The Fasli Nowruz and the Shahenshahi Navroz are thus different occasions, a source of some confusion to outsiders.

The Six Gahambars: Feasts of the Creations§

The Gahambars are six seasonal festivals, each lasting five days, which honour the six creations described in Zoroastrian cosmology: sky, water, earth, plants, animals and humans (see Ahura Mazda and cosmic dualism). Their Avestan names reflect the agricultural year of ancient Iran:

  1. Maidhyoi-zaremaya, "mid-spring", for the creation of the sky;
  2. Maidhyoi-shema, "midsummer", for the waters;
  3. Paitishahya, "bringing in the harvest", for the earth;
  4. Ayathrima, "homecoming" of the herds, for plants;
  5. Maidhyairya, "midwinter", for animals;
  6. Hamaspathmaedaya, the feast before the new year, for humankind and the fravashis of the righteous.

Tradition regards the Gahambars as religious obligations. They are communal feasts: food is prepared and shared, rich and poor eat together, and priests recite the Afrinagan blessing. In the villages of Yazd and Kerman, charitable endowments still fund gahambar meals, and diaspora associations hold gahambars as community gatherings.

Muktad: The Days of the Fravashis§

The last of the Gahambars merges with the Muktad or Farvardigan, the final ten days of the year — the last five days of the twelfth month and the five Gatha days. During this time the fravashis, the guardian spirits of the righteous dead, are believed to return to visit their families. Homes and fire temples prepare a clean, quiet place where vases of flowers, fruit and fire are set out, and priests recite prayers for the departed, including the Fravardin Yasht, the Avestan hymn to the fravashis. The festival connects the calendar to Zoroastrian beliefs about the soul described in Zoroastrian eschatology.

Other Zoroastrian Festivals§

Several other feasts are widely kept:

  • Khordad Sal, on Khordad day of the first month, celebrates the birth of Zarathustra.
  • Zarthosht no Diso, on Khorshed day of the tenth month, Dae, commemorates the prophet's death, which tradition says took place at the hands of an enemy.
  • Mehregan, in honour of Mithra, is one of the oldest Iranian festivals, mentioned in the Sasanian period and celebrated in Iran with special prayers and food.
  • Tiragan, dedicated to Tishtrya, the star Sirius and bringer of rain, is marked in Iran by playful water-splashing.
  • Sadeh, held fifty days (and nights) before Nowruz, is a midwinter fire festival with great bonfires, revived and celebrated on a large scale by Iranian Zoroastrians in Kerman, Yazd and Tehran.
  • Jashans are held throughout the year for anniversaries of fire temples and other occasions.

These cycles give Zoroastrian life a rhythm that combines theology, agriculture and remembrance. Like the Jewish festival cycle or the modern pagan wheel of the year, they sanctify time itself, marking the movements of the sun and the seasons as part of the struggle of the good creation.

Frequently asked questions§

When is the Zoroastrian New Year?§

It depends on the calendar. Fasli Zoroastrians and Iranians celebrate Nowruz at the spring equinox, around 21 March. Parsis following the Shahenshahi calendar celebrate Navroz in August, and Kadmi Parsis about a month earlier, because these calendars have no leap year.

What are the Gahambars?§

The Gahambars are six five-day seasonal festivals that honour the six creations: sky, water, earth, plants, animals and humans. They are communal feasts in which food is shared and blessings are recited.

Why do Zoroastrians have three calendars?§

The traditional 365-day calendar has no leap day. In the eighteenth century the Parsis discovered that their calendar differed by a month from the Iranian one, and some adopted the Iranian (Kadmi) reckoning while others kept the Shahenshahi. The Fasli calendar, a twentieth-century reform, adds a leap day and fixes New Year at the equinox.

Sources and further reading§