Indian festivals: Encyclopedia II - Indian festivals - Zoroastrian

Indian festivals - Zoroastrian

The Parsis account for less than 0.007% of the Indian population, but as Mahatma Gandhi said, they are "in number beneath contempt, but in contribution, beyond compare." The same could be said of their festivals. Unfortunately, like the Parsis themselves, these are private and celebrated primarily within the community. The Parsis use the Shahenshahi ("Imperial") version of the Zoroastrian calendar, which differs significantly from the Qadimi ("Ancient") version that their Iranian co-religionists use. For example, New Year is celebrated in the spring by Iranians but falls in late summer for Parsis. In addition to seasonal festivals, called Gahambars, the most eminent celebratory occasions are listed below.

• Maidyozarem Gahambar - Mid-Spring Festival. Early October.
• Maidyoshahem Gahambar - Mid-Summer Festival. Early December
• Paitishahem Gahambar - Festival of bringing in the harvest. Mid February.
• Ayathrem Gahambar - Festival if bringing home the herds. Mid March.
• Maidyarem Gahambar - Mid-Winter Festival. Lit. 'Mid-Year'. Early June.
• Hamaspathmaidyem or Muktad - All Souls Festival. Cf. Día de los Meurtos
• Pateti - New Year's Day Eve. August-September.
• Jamshed-e Navroz - New Year's Day, (Norouz). August-September.
• Jashan-e Sadeh - Festival of Fire. Lit. the 100th day (before Navroz).
• Jashan-e Mehragan - Festival of Mihr. A day of thanksgiving dedicated to the highest Angel, Mithra (c.f. Metatron).
• Jashan-e Tirigan - Festival of Tir. A day dedicated to Tishtrya, Angel of the star Sirius and rain.
• Farvardigan - Festival of the Farohars ('guardian angels').
• Khordad Sal - Birthday of the Prophet Zarathushtra.
• Zartosht No-Diso - Anniversary commemorating the death of the Prophet Zarathushtra.

See also: Zoroastrian calendar

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Zoroastrian", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki