Zoroastrian calendar
Fasli is a term for a 1906 adaptation of the 11th century Jalali calendar following a proposal by Kharshedji Rustomji Cama made in the 1860s.
[12] In 224 CE, when the Babylonian calendar was replaced by the Zoroastrian,[clarification needed] 1 Frawardin and the New Year celebration of Nawruz had drifted to 1 October.
Hormazd's reform was to link the popular and official observance dates to form continual six-day feasts.
Around the 10th century CE, the Greater Nawruz was associated with the return of the legendary king, Jamsed; in contemporary practice it is kept as the symbolic observance of Zoroaster's birthday, or Khordad Sal.
[18] By the 9th century, the Zoroastrian theologian Zadspram had noted that the state of affairs was less than optimal, and estimated that at the time of Final Judgement the two systems would be out of sync by four years.
Isolated pockets of Asia Minor use[citation needed] an alternative reckoning of years which predates the Yazdegirdi Era, being based on a supposed date of the birth of Zoroaster on 3 March 389 BC.
This is based on the putative association of the mission of Zoroaster with the dawn of the astrological Age of Aries, calculated for this purpose to have been the northern vernal equinox of 1738 BCE.
Around 1720 CE, an Iranian Zoroastrian priest named Jamasp Peshotan Velati travelled from Iran to India.
Velati brought this discrepancy to the attention of the priests of Surat, but no consensus as to which calendar was correct was reached.
Around 1740 CE, some influential priests argued that since their visitor had been from the ancient 'homeland', his version of the calendar must be correct, and their own must be wrong.
On 6 June 1745 CE (Julian), a number of Parsis in and around Surat adopted the calendar which had continued in use in Iran, now to be identified as the Qadimi reckoning.
Because the one-off intercalation of 30 days happened sometime before the Nawruz of 1129 CE, we can be confident that in that Julian year, 498 YZ began on 12 February by the Qadimi reckoning, but 14 March by the recently introduced Shahanshahi.
At the start of the 20th century, Khurshedji Cama, a Bombay Parsi, founded the "Zarthosti Fasili Sal Mandal", or Zoroastrian Seasonal-Year Society.
The leap-day, called Avardad-sal-Gah (or in Pahlavi: Ruzevahizak), would be inserted, when required, after the five existing Gatha days at the end of the year.
[25] The new calendar received little support from the Indian Zoroastrian community, since it was considered to contradict the injunctions expressed in the Denkard.
The Gregorian calendar itself, however, will not keep 21 March as the date of the northern vernal equinox forever – it has a deviation of one day every 5025 years.
[33] The sources cited above state that the Fasli calendar both follows the Gregorian and was such that New Year's Day coincided with vernal equinox.
The Fasli calendar cannot track both the Gregorian leap years and strictly start on the vernal equinox; further, any calendar strictly tied to the 'day of the equinox' must define when the day starts and ends, which depends on longitude-[25] A briefing paper from the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe indicates that The three different Zoroastrian calendar-traditions are similar with regard to the principle of the beginning of the months.
Many Zoroastrians suggested a consolidation of the calendars: no consensus could be reached, though some took this opportunity to switch to the Fasli observance.
Some priests objected on the grounds that if they were to switch, the religious implements they utilised would require re-consecration, at not insignificant expense.
[21][36] Zoroastrian practice divides time into years (sal or sol), months (mah), weeks, days (ruz, roz, or roj) and watches (gah or geh).
Each day is divided into five watches:[29] In medieval times, according to the Bundahishn, in winter there were only four periods, with Hawan extending from daybreak until Uziran, with the omission of Rapithwan.
[28] The tradition of naming the days and months after divinities was based on a similar Egyptian custom, and dates from when the calendar was set up.
No dated West-Iranian documents from this period survive, but the fact that the Zoroastrian calendar was created at this time can be inferred from its use in a number of far-flung lands which had formerly been parts of the Achaemenid Empire.
The 2nd through 7th days are dedicated to the Amesha Spentas, the six 'divine sparks' through whom all subsequent creation was accomplished, and who – in present-day Zoroastrianism - are the archangels.
Days 9 through 13 are dedications to five yazatas of the litanies (Niyayeshes): Fire (Atar), Water (Apo), Sun (Hvar), Moon (Mah), the star Sirius (Tištrya) that here perhaps represents the firmament in its entirety.
Verethragna, Rāman, Vāta are respectively the hypostases of victory, the breath of life, and the (other) divinity of the wind and 'space'.
The last group represent the more 'abstract' emanations: Religion (Daena), Recompense (Ashi), and Justice (Arshtat); Sky (Asman) and Earth (Zam); Sacred Invocation (Manthra Spenta) and Endless Light (Anaghra Raocha).
Seven of the twelve month-names occur at various points in the surviving Avesta texts, but an enumeration similar to the ones for day names does not exist in scripture.
Lists of month names are however known from commentaries on the Avesta texts, from various regional Zoroastrian calendars of the 3rd to 7th centuries, and from living usage.
