Khordad Sal

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Khordad Sal is the celebration of the birthday of Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra and Zartosht) a historical figure from Persia and the prophet after whom the Zoroastrian faith was named.

Within the various elements of the Zoroastrian community today there is conflict as to when to celebrate his birthday but the generally accepted date is 26th March in 2007.

Although it is accepted that Zoroaster existed, little is known about him and there is considerable debate at to when he lived, where he was born and where he lived. The modern consensus (but by no means universally upheld) is that he lived around 1200 BCE. It is known that Zoroastrianism was the national religion of the Sassanid Empire of Persia.

However, President Rahmonov of Tajikstan, in his writings, claimed that Zoroaster was a Tajik from Bactria and eventually persuaded UNESCO to celebrate 2002/2003 to be the 3rd Millennium since his birth.

Once an almighty world religion embracing the West and most of the Eastern empires (there are distinct links between Zoroastrianism and aspects of Freemasonry) the religion is now primarily limited to the Parsi (also known as Parsee) community in India. The Parsis, who number less than 200,000, fled from Persia to India to escape religious persecution when Islam spread through the Middle East and Western Asia, and still have very distinctive customs and practices whilst being fully integrated into the Indian cultures.

To celebrate Khordad Sal, Parsis hold a day of rejoicing which includes going to fire temples to pray and pay homage. Families normally prepare a feast and decorate their homes with flowers, and chalk or paint markings on the floor called rangoli.

On an individual level, people often make resolutions as to their future behaviour at the time of Khordad Sal.