Baha’is celebrate Ridvan, the Festival of Paradise |30 April 2020
The Garden of Ridvan in Baghdad
Beginning at sunset on April 19, Baha’is all around the world have been celebrating the ‘King of Festivals’, the holiest twelve days of the Baha’i year.
The 12th day falls tomorrow, May 1, 2020.
This celebration started in the place where the Baha’i Faith had its beginnings – appropriately enough, in a beautiful garden called the Garden of Ridvan (pronounced rez-vahn).
In Arabic, Ridvan means paradise – and that rose-scented, birdsong-filled garden witnessed the birth of the world’s newest independent religion on April 21, 1863.
This year, due to social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Baha’is around the world celebrated this Festival in their homes; some of us also celebrated by using different social networking platforms.
The Festival of Ridvan commemorates the announcement by Baha’u’llah in 1863 that He is the Promised One of all religions and the Manifestation of God for this era. Baha’u’llah’s teachings, particularly the concept of the oneness of humanity, are the basis of the Baha’i Faith.
Already exiled from Iran, Baha’u’llah had been living in Baghdad when word came that He was to be again banished by the leaders of the Ottoman Empire. Prior to this further exile, He set up a tent in the Garden of Ridvan outside the city on the Tigris River, where for 12 days He received friends and family.
Three of these 12 days are specially observed:
The first day celebrates Baha’u’llah’s arrival in the Garden accompanied by a few of His friends and family.
The ninth day marks the arrival of more of His family members.
The twelfth day commemorates His caravan’s departure to Constantinople (present-day Istanbul).
