What date is today (04/22/2012) in Iran? 02/03/1391! only 11 years have passed since the Battle of Kulikovo! :)
Indeed, the date differs by 621 years, but we are talking about the Persian calendar, one of the oldest chronological systems in the history of mankind and the most accurate calendar in the world, which is used in Iran and Afghanistan.
Compared to the Gregorian calendar, which needs a one-day adjustment every 3,226 years, the Iranian calendar only needs a one-day adjustment every 3.8 million years.
This accuracy is due to two reasons. The Iranian calendar uses a complex system of calculations to determine leap years. In addition, the beginning of each year, coinciding with a natural phenomenon (the vernal equinox), is annually determined to the second, using astronomical observations. In other words, since the calendar is based on astronomical calculations designed to determine the vernal equinox, it contains no inherent error—this makes it an observational calendar, as opposed to a mathematically based Gregorian calendar.
The current calendar used in Iran and Afghanistan came about as a result of a reform carried out in 1079 by a group of astronomers led by the great Iranian mathematician and poet Omar Khayyam. However, this calendar originates from Zoroastrian cosmology, which arose in the late Achaemenid era (650 - 330 BC). Over the centuries, the calendar has evolved and changed, but the names of the months are still almost the same.
It should be noted that in modern Iran three calendars are used at once: Persian, Islamic chronology according to the lunar Hijri (today according to this calendar: 05/30/1433), and also, of course, the Gregorian. You will find all three dates in almost all wall/desk calendars, diaries, news broadcasts, and the like. But, of course, the Persian calendar remains the basis of the daily life of the Iranians, while the Islamic calendar is used for religious purposes.
Below is a table briefly describing the months of the Persian calendar, as well as the meaning of their names and their Gregorian equivalents.
As you can see, the months almost completely correspond to the signs of the zodiac, since the calendar was based on lunar astrology.
According to the Iranian calendar, each week starts on Saturday and ends on Friday, with Friday being a public holiday. Below are the names of the days of the week:
Saturday: shambe
Sunday: yekshambe
Monday: doshambe
Tuesday: seshambe
Wednesday: chaharshambe
Thursday: panjshambe
Friday: jom'e(or Adine)
If you are curious to know what number of the Persian calendar will correspond to your birthday or any other date, you will need
What date is today (04/22/2012) in Iran? 02/03/1391! only 11 years have passed since the Battle of Kulikovo! :)
Indeed, the date differs by 621 years, but we are talking about the Persian calendar, one of the oldest chronological systems in the history of mankind and the most accurate calendar in the world, which is used in Iran and Afghanistan.
Compared to the Gregorian calendar, which needs a one-day adjustment every 3,226 years, the Iranian calendar only needs a one-day adjustment every 3.8 million years.
This accuracy is due to two reasons. The Iranian calendar uses a complex system of calculations to determine leap years. In addition, the beginning of each year, coinciding with a natural phenomenon (the vernal equinox), is annually determined to the second, using astronomical observations. In other words, since the calendar is based on astronomical calculations designed to determine the vernal equinox, it contains no inherent error—this makes it an observational calendar, as opposed to a mathematically based Gregorian calendar.
The current calendar used in Iran and Afghanistan came about as a result of a reform carried out in 1079 by a group of astronomers led by the great Iranian mathematician and poet Omar Khayyam. However, this calendar originates from Zoroastrian cosmology, which arose in the late Achaemenid era (650 - 330 BC). Over the centuries, the calendar has evolved and changed, but the names of the months are still almost the same.
It should be noted that in modern Iran three calendars are used at once: Persian, Islamic chronology according to the lunar Hijri (today according to this calendar: 05/30/1433), and also, of course, the Gregorian. You will find all three dates in almost all wall/desk calendars, diaries, news broadcasts, and the like. But, of course, the Persian calendar remains the basis of the daily life of the Iranians, while the Islamic calendar is used for religious purposes.
Below is a table briefly describing the months of the Persian calendar, as well as the meaning of their names and their Gregorian equivalents.
As you can see, the months almost completely correspond to the signs of the zodiac, since the calendar was based on lunar astrology.
According to the Iranian calendar, each week starts on Saturday and ends on Friday, with Friday being a public holiday. Below are the names of the days of the week:
Saturday: shambe
Sunday: yekshambe
Monday: doshambe
Tuesday: seshambe
Wednesday: chaharshambe
Thursday: panjshambe
Friday: jom'e(or Adine)
If you are curious to know what number of the Persian calendar will correspond to your birthday or any other date, you will need
Like all living beings, people have determined the seasons from the very beginning of their existence and evolution. Over time, they learned to calculate the month based on the lunar phases - the waxing and waning moon, and also learned that the solar year consists of twelve "moons" and a few more days. Those for whom the seasons did not matter much counted only twelve moons and cared much less about the solar year. They followed and still continue to follow the lunar year. So, Muslims use the lunar calendar. Those who had to keep track of the seasons, taking care of their herds and fields, had to calculate and, as far as possible, synchronize the lunar and solar years. Some did this by adding one moon every three years, later learning to use other adjustments to keep the year in line with the seasons. The lunisolar year is still used by many, including Buddhists, Hindus, and Jews. Christians followed the solar year, but did not base the beginning of their year on the first of the four seasons. Their year begins close to Christmas - on January 1, earlier than the eleventh month of the pre-Christian Romans. The months of the Christian era, as regards their beginning and end, are not in harmony with the seasons.
The true solar year, also known as the tropical year, was an even later discovery. To maintain the exact course of the solar year, the point of the equinox or solstice must be determined. Equinoxes are two intersections of the apparent annual path of the Sun with the celestial equator. The sun reaches the vernal equinox on 1 Farvardin (around March 21), the summer solstice on 1 Tire (around 22 June), the autumn equinox on 1 Mehr (around 23 September), and the winter solstice on 1 Day (around 22 December). Since the Sun and the celestial equator move in opposite directions, the equinoxes and solstices occur at different times each year. This counterclockwise movement of the intersection point is called precession. It moves one degree in 72 years, one sign of the zodiac (30 degrees) in 2156 years, and returns to the same place, having described a full circle, in 25868 years. For more information about the calendar, solar or tropical year, precession and other astronomical data, you can refer to any good encyclopedia or publication on astronomy and astrology.
The tropical year, based on the four seasons, is the most accurate. It includes 365.24224 solar days (365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 45.5 seconds), while the tropical lunar year includes 354.36708 solar days, with a difference of 10.87516 solar days. You don't have to look far to find the most suitable calendar to use. Of all existing calendars, the official Iranian calendar, based on the astronomical system, is the most scientific calendar, and the names of its months are Zoroastrian. He rightly defines the vernal equinox (around March 21st) as the beginning of spring and the beginning of the year. The fourth month begins with the summer solstice (about June 22), the seventh month - with the autumn equinox (about September 23) and the tenth - with the winter solstice (about December 22).
In a true seasonal year, the first half contains 186 days and the second half about 179.242 days. This means that each of the first six months has 31 days, each of the next five months has 30 days, and the last month has 29 days (30 days in a leap year). The four seasons begin on the equinoxes and solstices. This is exactly what the Iranian calendar, built on this principle, follows exactly.
The historical evidence that the five days of Ghats were added at the end of summer proves that the ancient Zoroastrian calendar took into account the length of the seasons of the tropical year.
Indo-Iranian calendar
The evidence of the Avesta and the Vedas proves that the Indo-Iranians, like many other peoples, used the lunisolar calendar for animal husbandry and agriculture. The names of the six Gahanbars, the six divisions of the Vedic year, and the names of the Achaemenid months, as will be shown later, indicate that the calendar was based on various seasonal events.
The Gathas talk about the path of the Sun and the stars and mention the lunar phases - the waxing and waning of the Moon, which is definitely a sign of an accurate lunisolar calendar. The language used is astronomical, and this confirms the ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean sources that Zoroaster was an eminent astronomer. It also confirms the claims of post-Sasanian Iranian astronomy books that Zarathushtra built an observatory at Zabul (Sistan, eastern Iran), which was inaugurated on March 21, 1725 BC - the day that Shah Vishtaspa and his retinue elected Good Faith and joined the Zarathushtrian community. This, in turn, gives us a clue that the Good Faith was founded by Zarathushtra exactly twelve years earlier on the spring equinox of 1737 BC.
The Vispered, dedicated exclusively to the six seasonal holidays, the Gahanbars (Gāhānbār), also shows that the early Zoroastrian calendar was in fact the ancient Indo-Iranian lunisolar calendar, accounting for the waxing and waning of the moon. The month was based on the phases of the moon, and the length of the year was determined by the movement of the sun. The difference was corrected by adding eleven days at the end of the year, during the Hamaspatmaidaya Gahanbar festival, close to the spring equinox. This was less than required by 0.12484 days or 2.99616 hours. Only the further addition of one day every eight years (more precisely, every 8.010253 years) helped to keep seasonal holidays in their proper places. We do not know how extra days were added during the time of the Gathas. We only know that there is no indication, recorded in the Avesta, of the shifting of holidays in relation to the correct agricultural seasons.
Some time later, in the time of the Younger Avesta, the length of the year was taken to be equal to a simple solar year of 365 days, with twelve months of thirty days and five days of Gathas as an additional period. According to the Pahlavi tradition of the ninth century, the correction of a little over five hours difference was undertaken every four years, or the community had to wait 40 years to add 10 days, or 120 years to add the thirteenth month to 30 days. An indication of the addition of one month after 120 years is reminiscent of the ordeals that befell the Sasanian Empire in the last days of its existence.
Leap year
A few words should be said about the leap year. The exact time of the vernal equinox is determined by the prime meridian currently passing through Greenwich. A year is usually taken to be 365 days and 6 hours. Four segments of 6 hours make up one day, which is added to return the year to the correct movement. This fourth year is called a leap year because one leap day is added. However, in fact, not 6 hours should be added to 365 days, but 5 hours 48 minutes and 45.5 seconds, that is, 11 minutes and 14.5 seconds less. This is one day in 128 years. To correct this difference, it is customary not to consider a leap year that is divisible by 400. But even this makes the Christian, or Gregorian, calendar 26 seconds longer than the tropical year.
The Iranian calendar does not face this problem. His New Year begins exactly on the spring equinox. Although formally the Iranian year currently has the notion of a leap year, he doesn't worry about it. All that is required is to look at the exact time of the equinox, and if it occurs after midnight (00 hours 00 minutes 01 seconds), then the first day of the year also begins on that day. This is so, because the Avestan day begins with Ushahin Gah (Ushahin Gāh), that is, from midnight. Yes, the Iranians calculated the beginning of the day from midnight at least since 1737 BC, but the West adopted this much later, already in our time. The Iranian calendar does not need a leap year at all. It automatically adjusts to the correct time. I hope that one day the authorities will understand this fact and correct the calendar by eliminating the so-called leap year.
Calendar names
Each of the twelve Avestan months and thirty days was named after one of the divine objects and principles, called the common word Yazata (yazata), which means "respected, revered." The year as a whole was called yairi (yāiri) or yari (yāri), but the solar year regulating the calendar was called saredha, in Old Persian Achaemenid tharda, in Pahlavi and modern Persian sāl (cf. Skt. "sharad" - autumn, year).
This calendar is followed to this day by Iranian Zoroastrians and some Parsis. It is called the modern Perso-Arabic word Fasli, which means "seasonal".
However, most Parsis use the Shahenshahi (Shāhenshāhi), or "royal" (in Gujarati Shenshai) calendar. The Parsis have not regulated the calendar since 1126 AD. It currently starts on August 21 - exactly seven months and one day earlier. The Iranian Zoroastrians who follow the Qadimi calendar (the Arabic word for "primordial, ancient" in Gujarati is Kadmi) ceased regulation in 1006 CE. This year starts on July 21st. Their 365-day year has shifted relative to the vernal equinox by eight months. It is easy to see that these two calendars are neither accurately Gathic nor astronomically justified. Such is the existing chronology of the Zoroastrian era, which is followed by the followers of Shahenshahi, Kadimi and Parsis, following Fasli. It starts from the coronation of the last Sasanian king Yazdegerd III (632-642 AD + 10 years of wandering before his assassination) and has no religious significance.
Fortunately, almost all Iranian Zoroastrians, with the exception of a small number living in India, preferred the Fasli calendar to the Kadimi calendar and date back to the Era of Zarathushtra's Religion. There is currently a definite movement to unite all Zoroastrians, at least in North America and Europe, on the basis of the Fasli calendar.
Names of seasonal events in Gahanbara
The agricultural people were in harmony with nature in their daily lives. They perfectly knew the movement of the Moon and the Sun and the change of seasons. They calculated their actions to adapt to the climate in which they lived. This routine was in step with the sareda, a tropical solar year of 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes and 45.5 seconds, but differed somewhat at certain points.
The activities of the people were planned in such a way as to correspond to the various stages of their agricultural life on the Iranian Plateau, which was divided into six phases. The end of one phase and the beginning of another was celebrated as a special time, a holiday. The six seasonal holidays were as follows:
1. Hamaspathmaidhaya - "spring equinox" (1st day of the month Farvardin, the beginning of spring, around March 21) - the end of the old year and the beginning of a new one. According to the Avesta, this was the time of "proper preparation" of everything and preparation for the New Year.
2. Maidhyoi-zaremaya - "mid-spring" (14th day of the month Ardibehesht, around May 4) - the time of the holiday in honor of the cattle, which gave "an abundance of milk", as well as the time for evaluating the sprouts of cereals - winter or sown at the beginning of spring.
3. Maidhyoi-shema - "Midsummer" (12th day of the month of Tyr, around July 3) - the beginning of the harvest season.
4. Paitish-hahya (Paitish-hahya) - "harvest of bread" (25th day of the month of Shahrivar, around September 16) - the end of the harvest.
5. Ayatrema (Ayāthrema) - "without travel" (24th day of the month Mehr, around October 16) - the holiday of the end of trade caravans and the time of mating of cattle before the onset of winter.
6. Maidhyāirya - "middle of the year" (15th day of the month of Day, around January 4) - the peak of winter, the beginning of preparations for spring and agricultural activities.
Only the first two holidays coincided with solar seasonal changes. Others were deliberately set aside to suit the conditions of life. These people did not devote their lives to the calendar or tradition, but were very practical people, which deserves special attention.
Gahanbars and Zoroastrians
Asho Zarathushtra, who was born in an agricultural environment, preached and spread his Good Faith among people engaged in growing crops and animal husbandry. His dynamic message introduced an entirely new order in the spiritual realm, or, as he himself said, in the realm of thought, and removed all evil and superstitious thoughts, misleading words, harmful deeds, superficial ceremonies and superfluous rituals, helping to strengthen and advance all existing deeds of a good life. Gahanbars, on the other hand, were creative and joyful holidays.
Singing and eating
The Avestan evidence, especially the book of Vispered, shows that the early Zoroastrians turned Gahanbar into an event in keeping with their new way of life. Each holiday was traditionally celebrated for one day, and later for five days, which were devoted to reading, chanting, explanation, understanding, questions and answers on each of the five Gathas of Asho Zarathushtra. The holiday was accompanied by treats, prepared by the efforts of all participants, and fun.
According to the prescriptions of the Avesta, each of the participants had to bring to the feast what he could afford - dairy products, meat, vegetables, beans, grains, other food, as well as firewood. If someone did not have the opportunity to contribute, he could offer his participation in the preparation of the food brought, or just join the prayers. The food, with a wide variety of ingredients, was very tasty and reminiscent of the Iranian "ash" (āsh), which is more difficult to prepare, or the Parsi spicy "dansak" (dhansāk), which are prepared by Zoroastrians for holidays today.
Vedic calendar
It should be noted that the Indo-Aryans also had six seasons (Skt. rtu, Avest. ratu), apparently modified to suit the climate in the Indus Valley - Vasanta (spring), Grishma (summer), Varsha (rains), Sharada (autumn ), Hemanta (winter) and Shishira (cold season).
Persian and other Iranian calendars
The Achaemenids, Sogdians, Khorezmians and Armenians, who were Zarathushrians, had their own names for the months. The names of the Achaemenid months, as follows from the bas-reliefs of Darius the Great, were as follows:
* 1 - month of irrigation canals cleaning;
* 2 - energy-bringing spring;
* 3 - month of harvesting garlic;
* 4 - hot step;
* 7 - worship of God;
* 8 - the birth of a wolf;
* 9 - veneration of fire;
* 10 - anamaka (anāmaka) - nameless month;
* 12 - digging.
The names of three of the twelve months are not given in Old Persian, but their Elamite pronunciation is known, and most of the names (with the exception of two) do not have a religious connotation. The Achaemenids used numbers instead of names for the days of the month (see Old Persian, Ronald G. Kent, 2nd ed., New Haven, 1953). Thus, the use of the names of Yazats for the names of months and days is a later tradition. There are some indications that this was done during the reign of Artaxerxes II (405-359 BC), and that the tradition of naming months and days in this way was adopted from the Egyptians.
The names of the Gahanbars and the names of the Vedic, Achaemenid, Sogdian, Khorezmian and Armenian months show that the names of the pre-Zarathushtrian and Gathic months must have been based on the designation of the seasons and social events. However, from the existing Zarathushtrian texts, we have no idea what they were.
Young Avestan calendar
The following are the names of the twelve months in Modern Persian with their Avestan form and their respective zodiac signs:
No. in Persian in Avestan Sign of the Zodiac
Note: The highlighted names are the Gathic "Basic Principles of Life". Azar/Atra (Fire) was mentioned in the Gathas as a symbol of Progressive Thinking (Spenta Mainyu), Ap (Water) was also mentioned in the Gathic texts, the rest are the names of the Yazats of the Younger Avesta.
A week
People of the time of the Elder Avesta had no concept of a week as a period of 7 days, which is a common period of time today. A week is an artificially formed unit. Its length among different peoples ranged from five to ten days. But since the lunar month, as one of the very first ways of counting time, contains 29 or 30 days with two phases - growth and decrease, it was easiest to divide them further in two and get four quarters of 7 and 8 days. The seven planets visible to the naked eye may also have played a role in shaping the week. That is why the days of the week are named after celestial bodies. However, the existing week is most likely of Chaldean or Jewish origin, and was spread by Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The Young Avestan solar calendar, based on a 30-day month, has four quarters - the first two of seven days and the second two of eight days. However, Avestan and Pahlavi do not contain any names for each of these quarters. Modern Persian follows the Hebrew pattern of defining the Sabbath as Shanbeh, an Iranianized form of Shabbat, and then counting from one to five as Yek-shanbeh, Do-shanbeh, Se-shanbe ( Se-shanbeh), Chahar-shanbe (Chahār-shanbeh), Panj-shanbe (Panj-shanbeh), and, under Islamic influence, Adine (Ādineh) or Jom`e (Jom`eh) for Friday, the day of collective prayers.
Pahlavi texts tell us that the religious era began from the day when Zarathushtra proclaimed his Divine Mission to mankind. Based on the astronomical calculation that Zoroaster announced his mission on the day of the vernal equinox, when, according to the precession, the period of Aries is supposed to have begun, 1737 BC is taken as the beginning of the era. In Pahlavi texts, the religious era was called the "Year of Religion". Modern Zoroastrians call it the Zarathushtrian Religious Era (ZRE) and use the year of the proclamation of religion as the starting point of the Zarathushtrian calendar. The Zoroastrian community in Iran joined the use of ZRE for their calendar in 1993, and many Zoroastrians in the diaspora have also adopted this.
Previously, each of the Iranian shahs, following the example of other Middle Eastern rulers, especially the Babylonians, calculated a new era from his own accession to the throne. After more than 80 rulers of the Iranian throne for a thousand plus years - Achaemenids, Macedonians, Parthians and Sassanids - there was a huge mess in the chronology, and many dates were distorted, misused, misreported, misinterpreted, miscalculated and omitted. Yazdgerdi Era recalls one of the last emperors who was overthrown by the Arab conquerors.
Sassanids and two calendars
The Sassanids continued to maintain both calendars - "yāiri" with a duration of 365 days and "saredha" with a duration of 365.24224 days. The first one they called "oshmurdīk" meaning "memorable, countable" and the second "vihezakīk" meaning "moving, advancing, added". While "countable" was used by the laity due to its ease of remembering and counting by name, "added" belonged to the priest-astronomers associated with the imperial court and was used to keep the formal year accurate and consistent with the seasons. As already mentioned, they updated "oshmurdīk" every four years. This allowed the two calendars to coexist in parallel. The fall of the Sasanian Empire deprived the astronomical priests of their high position. However, the leap year, as the Pahlavi books and the existing position of the Kadimi and Shahenshahi calendars say, persisted until the 11th century. AD The dismissal of the astronomical clergy put an end to both the calculus of "vihezakīk" and the renewal of "oshmurdīk", and ordinary clergymen continued to use only "oshmurdīk", shifting by about one day every four years of the seasonal and solar year. This explains why the Parsi Shahenshahi calendar and the Iranian Kadimi calendar are seven and eight months ahead, respectively.
However, the needs of the economy, in particular for seasonal tax collection, forced the Muslim caliphs (apparently with the help of those astronomical clerics who converted to Islam) to maintain a leap year in addition to the Islamic calendar, based solely on the lunar year without taking into account any astronomical and seasonal factors.
It was this "vihezakīk" year, indifferently supported by Muslim rulers, that was improved, perfected and formally restored by Omar Khayyam and other Iranian scholars. It was named the "Jalāli" calendar after its patron, Sultan Jalal al-Din Malekshah Saljuqi (1072-1092 AD).
The year of Fasli, officially observed in modern Iran by Zoroastrians, Jews, Christians and Muslims, is the "saredha" of the Avesta people, the "tharda" of the Achaemenids, the "vihezakīk" of the Sassanids and the "Jalāli" of Omar Khayyam. The exact solar year is also calculated by all astronomical observatories in the world. This is a universal astronomical and scientific year. This calendar, "vihezakīk" (Pers. "behizaki"), now called "Khorshidi" or "solar", is the official Iranian calendar, an exact calendar with numbered dates. It is astronomically accurate, progressive and truly Zoroastrian.
Nouruz
Nouruz in Persian means "New Day" ("Day of the New Year"). This is the beginning of the year for people in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Tajikistan and a common cultural heritage. It is also celebrated as the New Year by people of Iranian origin, especially Kurds, in the neighboring countries of Georgia, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. It begins exactly with the beginning of spring on the day of the vernal equinox, around March 21st.
The tradition of celebrating Nouruz originates about 15,000 years ago, before the last ice age. Shah Jamshid (Yima/Yama among the Indo-Europeans) symbolizes in the history of mankind the transition of the Indo-Iranians from hunting to animal husbandry and a more settled life. The seasons played a vital role then. Everything depended on the four seasons. After a separating winter, the beginning of spring was a great event in mother nature, accompanied by the appearance of a green cover with colorful flowers and the birth of livestock. It was the dawn of abundance. Jamshid is said to have been the person who introduced the tradition of celebrating Nouruz.
Avestan and later writings show that Zoroaster perfected in 1725 B.C. old Indo-Iranian calendar. The then prevailing calendar was lunisolar. The lunar year contains 354 days. The addition of one month every thirty months kept the calendar nearly in line with the seasons. Zarathushtra, the Founder of the Good Faith, himself an astronomer, founded an observatory and reformed the calendar by introducing an additional period of eleven days to make the lunisolar year equal to 365 days and 5-odd hours. Later the year was made exceptionally sunny, with thirty days in each month. The addition of five days, and the further addition of one day every four years, was introduced to keep the year at 365 days and 5-plus hours. Still later, the calendar was again corrected to be an exactly solar year of 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 45.5 seconds. The year always began exactly on the vernal equinox, and therefore there was no particular need to add one day every four years, there was no need for a leap year. It was the best and most correct calendar ever produced.
Approximately 12 centuries later, in 487 BC, Darius the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty celebrated Nowruz in his newly built Persepolis in Iran. Recent research suggests that this was a special case. On this day, the first rays of the rising sun fell on the observatory in the main reception hall at 6:30 am - an event that repeats itself once every 1400/1401 years. This date also coincided with the Babylonian and Jewish New Year. Therefore, it was a very favorable event for the ancient peoples. Persepolis was the place where the Achaemenid shah received representatives of all the peoples of his vast empire in Nowruz. The walls of the great royal palace depict scenes of celebrations.
We know that the Parthians also celebrated this event, but we do not know the details. This was to more or less follow the Achaemenid pattern. In Sasanian times, preparations began at least 25 days before Nouruz. Twelve pillars made of briquettes of earth and dedicated to the months of the year were installed in the royal court. Seeds of plants - wheat, barley, lentils, beans and others - were sown on the tops of pillars and by the New Year's Day they gave luxurious greenery. The Great Shah gave a general reception, and the High Priest of the Empire was the first to greet him. Official rulers followed. Each person brought a gift and received a gift. The reception lasted for five days, each day was intended for people of a certain profession. Then on the sixth day, called the Great Nouruz, the king gave a special reception. He received members of the royal family and courtiers. For those convicted of minor crimes, a general amnesty was proclaimed. The pillars were removed on the 16th day, and the feast came to an end. On a somewhat smaller scale, the joyful event of the New Year was celebrated by all people in all parts of the empire.
Since that time, the peoples of Iranian origin, whether Zoroastrians, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Baha'is or others, have celebrated Nowruz exactly at the time of the vernal equinox, on the first day of the first month, around March 21st.
To date, the ceremony has been simplified. Each house is cleaned about a month before the New Year. Wheat, barley, lentils, and other seeds are soaked on china plates and in round bowls about ten days before the festival, to sprout three or four inches high by Nouruz. The table is laid for the holiday. On it there is a sacred book (for the Zoroastrians - Gathas), a portrait of Zarathushtra, a mirror, candles, an incense burner, an aquarium with live goldfish, plates and bowls with green sprouts, flowers, fruits, coins, bread, a sugar cone, various cereals, fresh vegetables, colorfully painted boiled eggs (similar to Easter ones), and always seven products with names beginning in Persian with the letter “s” or “sh”.
Common items starting with the letter "s" include serke (vinegar), sumac (condiment), sir (garlic), samana (sprouted wheat paste), sib (apple), sanjed (rowanberry), and sabzeh (greens). Items starting with the letter "sh" include sharab (wine), shakar (sugar), sharbat (syrup), sha`d (honey), shirini (sweets, hard candy), shir (milk), and shawls (rice, rice pudding). In other Asian countries, Africa, North America, Latin America, Europe and Australia, they can be replaced with other items according to the English or national language - using words that can be alliterated, rhymed or simply whet your appetite. These seven items are clearly displayed on small balls or plates on the table. The whole table, beautifully decorated, symbolizes the Revelation and the Messenger, light, reflection, warmth, life, joy, birth, prosperity and nature. This is, in fact, a very complex table of thanksgiving for all the good and beautiful things that God has given.
Family members, dressed in their best clothes, sit around the table and eagerly await the announcement of the exact time of the vernal equinox on radio or television. The head of the family reads prayers for Nouruz, and after the time comes, each member of the family kisses the other and wishes a happy Nouruz. Parents give gifts to younger members of the family. Then visits to neighbors, relatives and friends begin. Each visit is reciprocated.
Zarathushtra's birthday is celebrated by the Zoroastrians on Farvardin 6 (around March 26). Singing and dancing are the usual daily routine during the first two weeks of Nowruz. The holiday lasts for 12 days, and on the morning of the 13th day, a mass picnic in nature is arranged. It is called "sizde-be-dar" (sizdeh-be-dar), which means "the thirteenth-behind-the-doors." Cities and villages become empty - all the inhabitants rush to enjoy their stay in the forest, in the mountains, on the banks of the rivers. People sing, dance and have fun. Girls who have reached the age of marriage weave wreaths and make a wish to get married and give birth to a beautiful child by the next Nouruz.
The Persian calendar is a solar calendar whose origin coincides with that of the Muslim calendar. Its origins can be traced back to the 11th century, when a group of astronomers (including the famous poet Omar Khayyam) created what is known as the Jalali calendar. However, several changes have been made to the calendar since then.
The modern calendar has been used in Iran since 1925 and in Afghanistan since 1957. However, from 1999 to 2002, the Muslim calendar was used in Afghanistan.
5.1. What does the Persian year look like?
Here are the names and durations of the 12 months that make up the Persian year:
| 1. | Farvardin | (31 days) | 7. | Mehr | (30 days) |
| 2. | Ordibehesht | (31 days) | 8. | Aban | (30 days) |
| 3. | Khordad | (31 days) | 9. | Azar | (30 days) |
| 4. | Tyr | (31 days) | 10. | Give | (30 days) |
| 5. | Mordad | (31 days) | 11. | Bachman | (30 days) |
| 6. | Shahrivar | (31 days) | 12. | Esfand(29/30 days) |
(Due to differences in the transliteration of the Persian alphabet, other spellings of the names are possible.) In Afghanistan, the names of the months are different.
The month of Esfand has 29 days in a normal year and 30 days in a leap year.
5.2. When does the Persian year start?
The Persian year begins on the vernal equinox. If the astronomical vernal equinox occurs before noon (Tehran true time) on a certain day, then that day will be the first day of the year. If the astronomical spring equinox occurs after noon, the first day of the year will be the following day.
5.3. How are years counted?
As in the Muslim calendar (section 4.3), the years are counted from Mohammed's migration to Medina in 622 CE. On the vernal equinox this year, AP 1 began (AP = Anno Persico/Anno Persarum = Persian year).
Note that, in contrast to the Muslim calendar, the Persian calendar counts solar years. Therefore, in 2003, the Persian year 1382 and the Muslim year 1424 began.
5.4. What years are leap years?
Since the Persian year is determined by the astronomical vernal equinox, the answer is simple: leap years are those in which 366 days elapse between two consecutive days of the New Year.
However, such a binding of the calendar to astronomical observations was rejected by many, and several mathematical rules were proposed to determine the length of the year.
The most common (and complex) of these is probably the following:
The calendar is divided into periods of 2820 years. These periods are then divided into 88 cycles, the durations of which follow this series:
| 29, 33, 33, 33, 29, 33, 33, 33, 29, 33, 33, 33, ... |
This gives 2816 years. The period of 2820 years is achieved by lengthening the last cycle by 4 years (it will be equal to 37 years).
If you count the years in each cycle, starting at 0, then the years that are divisible by 4 will be leap years, but year 0 will not be a leap year.
Thus, here are the years of the 29-year cycle:
| Year | Year | Year | |||||
| 0 | Normal | 8 | leap year | 16 | leap year | 24 | leap year |
| 1 | Normal | 9 | Normal | 17 | Normal | 25 | Normal |
| 2 | Normal | 10 | Normal | 18 | Normal | 26 | Normal |
| 3 | Normal | 11 | Normal | 19 | Normal | 27 | Normal |
| 4 | leap year | 12 | leap year | 20 | leap year | 28 | leap year |
| 5 | Normal | 13 | Normal | 21 | Normal | ||
| 6 | Normal | 14 | Normal | 22 | Normal | ||
| 7 | Normal | 15 | Normal | 23 | Normal |
This gives 683 leap years for every 2820 years, which corresponds to an average year length of 365683/2820 = 365.24220 days. This is a better approximation of the length of the tropical year than the 365.2425 days in the Gregorian calendar.
The solar Hijri calendar is the only calendar in the world in which the New Year comes at the same time for all people, no matter where they are in the world. From this point of view, the Iranian calendar is exceptional and unique.
In all calendars of the world, the beginning of the New Year has a certain meaning, for example, in countries where the New Year is celebrated according to the Christian calendar, the New Year comes at midnight on December 31 on January 1. Thus, countries located in the east of the globe are the first to celebrate the onset of the New Year, and then in order, that is, from east to west, the countries alternately celebrate the New Year.
In other calendars of the world, there is no simultaneous entry into the New Year at a single specific point in time, everything happens according to certain concepts and provisions, that is, the beginning of the year in the calendars of many countries of the world does not directly depend on natural and astronomical phenomena. However, in the Iranian solar calendar, the moment of the New Year necessarily coincides with a natural phenomenon - the vernal equinox, when the sun crosses the border of the southern and northern hemispheres, this transition of the sun from the southern to the northern hemisphere occurs at a certain point in time, calculated to the nearest second. The onset of the New Year at the moment of the spring equinox not only eloquently symbolizes the connection between man and nature, flourishing and newness, but also the fact that the onset of the New Year always takes place at different times of the day, which is far from repeatability and monotony, and which is also a manifestation of diversity and inspiration. .
Solar Hijri Calendar - the most accurate calendar in the world
The calendar in use today in modern Iran is the most accurate calendar among other calendars in use in the world. For the first time, the solar calendar was developed and compiled by astronomer Abdul Gafarkhan based on the Zoroastrian horoscope. At one time, he determined that it was the 1264th year according to the solar calendar (1885th year from the birth of Christ), which coincided with the 1302th - 1303rd lunar year. Starting from this year 1264, a solar calendar spread in Iran, based on the movement of the sun and which begins with the great migration of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. Of course, the calendar he compiled is known as the solar Hijri calendar, or as the solar calendar, the main principles of such a calendar are as follows:
- The beginning of the solar calendar is the first day of the month of Farvardin of the solar year in the year of the Great Migration of the Islamic prophet from Mecca to Medina, which is 119 days ahead of the first day of the month of Moharram of the first year of the Great Migration by lunar reckoning. The beginning of the solar calendar coincides with the day of Friday, March 19, 622 from the birth of Christ.
- The onset of the New Year according to the solar calendar occurs at the moment of the transition of the solar disk from the southern hemisphere to the northern, that is, at the moment of the vernal equinox, such a day is called the first day of the month of Aries or Nouruz (that is, a new day), such a day coincides with the first day of spring. 
- A solar year is an actual year, that is, spanning the time span of the spring and autumn equinoxes and averaging 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 2.45 seconds. The exact length of the solar year depends on many astronomical factors.
- The duration of solar years for 50 years (from 1335 to 1385) varied between 365 days, 5 hours, 42 minutes and 365 days, 6 hours and 4 minutes. This difference in duration is explained by the length of the astronomical year, when the earth makes a full circle around the sun, which is 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes and 10 seconds.
- A year according to the solar calendar consists of twelve months, each of which corresponds to a certain sign of the zodiac in the sky, through which the solar disk passes annually. For 20 centuries before, astronomers divided the full circle of the earth around the sun into 12 equal months.
At the very beginning, the solar calendar did not have official status in Iran; the old calendar was used for tax and customs activities. In lunar year 1328/solar year 1288, Mirza Abdulhossein Khan Shaybani Wahid-ul-Mulk, Tehran's representative in the Majlis of the National Council, suggested that all transactions be dated not on the basis of the solar calendar, but not the lunar one. This proposal was accepted by the Majlis of the National Council of Iran of the second convocation, after which the solar calendar began to be used in government calculations as an official measure of time.
Recognition of the solar calendar
At the end of the 1303rd solar calendar, a group of deputies of the Majlis of the National Council of Iran of the fifth convocation proposed to replace the names of the Arabic months in the solar calendar with Persian ones and to abandon the names of years based on the names of twelve common animals. After heated discussions at the 148th session of the Majlis of the Islamic Council of Iran, held on March 31, 1925, a law was adopted on the transition to the Persian months, starting from the year 1304 according to the solar calendar, which corresponds to the year 1925. The solar calendar has been approved as the official calendar in Iran.
The solar calendar is still the official calendar in Iran today. The names of the months in 
solar calendar have Avestan roots.
Farvardin = driving force
Ordibihesht = truthfulness and purity
Khordad = perfection and impeccability
Tyr = rain
Mordad = immortality
Shahrivar = chosen country
Mehr = covenant and agreement
Aban = water
Azar = fire
Day = creator and creator
Bachmann = positive thoughts
Esfand = humility and patience
From the point of view of astronomy and natural phenomena, the solar calendar is considered the best and most accurate way of reckoning in the world. The solar calendar has some of the following benefits:
- The duration of the solar year, Nouruz (beginning of the year) and leap years in the solar calendar are determined in strict accordance with astronomical calculations and calculations. The solar calendar is the world's only widely used calendar that takes into account not only leap years every four years, but also leap years every five years. The presence of five-year leap years allows the solar calendar to constantly and more closely match the natural seasons.
- The number of days in the months of the solar calendar is determined on an astronomical and natural basis. In other words, the number of days1 in months completely coincides with the duration of the external uneven movement of the center of the solar disk across the sky, divided into signs of the zodiac.
- The beginning of the year according to the solar calendar coincides with the onset of spring and the re-blooming of nature.
