Sepandārmazgān
Sepandārmazgān | |
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Frequency | annual |
Sepandārmazgān (
Barzegaran Festival
The jashn-e barzegarán (Festival of Agriculturists), is celebrated in Iran also on the 5th day of Spandarmad month (the Spandarmad day). People pray for good harvest, honor the deity of Earth Spandārmad, and put signs on doors to destroy evil spirits.[3]
The observation of this festival has been revived in modern Iran, where it is mostly set on the 5th day of
Historical festival
Descriptions of this festival are given in medieval historiographical sources such as
According to Biruni, it was a day where women rested and men had to bring them gifts. In the section about Persian calendar,
On the 5th day or Isfahdmah-Roz (day of Isfand), there is a feast on account of the identity of the names of the month and the day. Isfandarmah is charged with the care of the earth and with that the good, chaste, and beneficient wife who loves her husband. In the past times, this was a special feast of the women, when the men used to make them liberal presents. This custom is still flourishing in
Fahla. In Persian it is called Mardgiran.
Furthermore,
Modern revival
The revival of the festival dates to the Pahlavi dynasty, advocated by Ebrahim Pourdavoud as "Nurses' Day" (روز پرستار) in 1962.[6]
The date of the modern festival is on the 5th of Esfand in the Iranian calendar (24 February) due to the reorganization of the calendar, once by Omar Khayyam in the 11th century.
See also
- Persian culture
- Iranian woman
Notes
- ^ a b c M. Boyce, "Textual sources for the study of Zoroastrianism", University of Chicago Press, 1990. pp. 19–20
- ^ Boyce, 1990, p. 69
- ISBN 9780674015173
- ^ Bahrami, Askar, Jashnhā-ye Irāniān, Tehran: Daftar-e Pazhuheshha-ye Farhangi, 1383, p. 89; Habib Borjian, “KASHAN vi. THE ESBANDI FESTIVAL,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2012, XVI/1, pp. 29-32, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kashan-vi-the-esbandi-festival
- ^ a b The Chronology Of Ancient Nations, trans.Edward Sachau. London: Elibron Classics, 2005
- ^ مجموعه مقالات آناهیتا (Anahita Proceedings), Tehran University Publications, 1962 (1342), p 165.