Baha’is celebrate New Year, Naw-Ruz Baha’i era 178, after 19 days of fasting and spiritual renewal |20 March 2021

Today March 20, 2021, on the spring equinox, some 900 registered Baha’is in Seychelles and over 7 million Baha’is around the world celebrate their New Year – Naw-Ruz – 178 years after the dawn of the Baha’i Faith.

The celebrations this year will be in smaller settings at household and family level respecting the new normal.

Many independent world religions bring a new calendar to the world. Baha’u’llah restores the New Year to March as it has been since ancient times until 45/6 BC when Julius Caesar made New Year coincide with the Roman administrative year that started in January. Hence September and October mean seventh and eighth month!

In March the phenomena in nature we experience becomes the outer form of deeper spiritual significance and the world of nature and the human world is harmonised.

On March 20, 2021 the sun appears overhead at the equator and day and night is almost equal. Moreover the whole earth at this time experiences the rays of the sun including the North and South poles. The equinox becomes the symbol of the Messengers of God. They shine like the sun of truth and shed their illumination on mankind building a new civilisation.

At the same time, this marks the beginning of spring in the Northern hemisphere. Spring represents regeneration, as new life is breathed in the world of nature. Religion also goes through its seasons and is renewed from time to time in order to remain progressive and when its winter sets in!

…“Soon the whole world, as in springtime, will change its garb. The turning and falling of the autumn leaves is past; the bleakness of the winter time is over. The new year hath appeared and the spiritual springtime is at hand. When the sun appears at the equinox it causes a movement in all living things. The mineral world is set in motion, plants begin to sprout, the desert is changed into a prairie, trees bud and every living thing responds, including the bodies of animals and men. The rising of the sun at the equinox is the symbol of life and the human reality is revivified; our thoughts are transformed and our intelligence is quickened. The sun of truth bestows eternal life, just as the solar sun is the cause of terrestrial life…”

Another point of interest in the Baha’i calendar is that the names of the months and weeks have been changed to reflect the names and attributes of God. The days of the week and month are named after the attributes of God, such as Glory, Beauty, Grace, Justice, Mercy...For example, the first month of the year (March/April) is Splendour and the first day of the week (Monday), Perfection. This focuses man on the noble qualities that he has been endowed with and which are but a reflection of the Divine perfection.

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