Naw-Rúz, The Bahá’í New Year ( The Day of God)

1 Bahá 180 B.E. (Bahá’í Era) 21 March 2023

(Sunset of Monday, March 20, 2023 - Sunset of Tuesday, March 21, 2023)

Compiled by: 
Jaya Raju Thota, India (JRT, India)

On March 21, 2023, Baháʼís from all over the world and of all cultural backgrounds celebrated Naw Rúz, the Day of God, the Bahá’í New Year.

This year, March 21st is the first day of the Bahá'í calendar, corresponding to the year 180 and the Bahá'í New Year.

This year, March 21st also marks the Vernal Equinox in the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere and the Autumnal Equinox in the South—that day when the sun’s light strikes the Equator directly and illuminates every continent equally.

Naw Rúz, observed around the globe for more than three thousand years, occurs when the sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day—at the moment spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere.  

Naw Rúz marks the end of the 19-day Baha'i Fast, which is a period of reflection and profound spiritual reinvigoration. Naw Rúz is a celebration of a “spiritual springtime” that symbolizes both individual renewal and mankind's revitalization.

Since the New Year also ends the Baháʼí month of fasting the celebration is often combined with a dinner.

Baháʼí Naw-Rúz is celebrated on the first day of the Baháʼí calendar. It is usually a festive event observed with meetings for prayer
and music and dancing.

The Baháʼí  Calendar (also called the Badi Calendar, meaning wondrous or unique) is a solar calendar composed of 19 months of 19 days each, plus an extra period of four or five intercalary days, known as Ayyam-i-Ha. The Baháʼí year begins on the day of the vernal equinox in Tehran (Iran), which usually falls around March 20th or March 21st. 

The inception of the Baháʼí calendar was on 21 March 1844 CE, the year during which the Báb declared His mission and the Baháʼí Faith began. Years are counted with the date notation of BE (Baháʼí Era). The year 180 BE  began on 21 March 2023, but because the Baháʼí day begins and ends at sunset, this will be celebrated from sunset on March 20th.

The Baháʼí day ends, and a new one begins at sunset; consequently, the day on which a Nineteen Day Feast or Holy Day is observed begins at the sunset of the day before the Gregorian calendar dates.

The Báb, the Prophet-Founder of Bábism, and then Baháʼu'lláh, the Prophet-Founder of the Baháʼí Faith, adopted the day as a holy day and associated it with the Most Great Name of God.

It is usually a festive event observed with meetings for prayer and music and dancing.are both named Bahá, an Arabic word meaning 
splendour or glory. Thus Naw-Rúz, the first day of the year, is the day of Bahá in the month of Bahá. The day was called the Day of God by the Báb, and was associated with He whom God shall make manifest, a Messianic Figure in the Báb's Writings.

Baháʼu'lláh, the Prophet-Founder of the Baháʼí Faith who is recognized as the Messianic Figure expected by the Báb, adopted the new calendar and the use of Naw-Rúz as a holy day.

The day follows the Baháʼí month of fasting, and He explained that Naw-Rúz was associated with the Most Great Name of God, and was instituted as a festival for those who observed the fast.

The symbolic notion of the renewal of time in each religious dispensation was made explicit by the Writings of the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh and the calendar and the New Year made this spiritual metaphor more concrete. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, Baháʼu'lláh's son and successor, explained that significance of Naw-Rúz in terms of spring and the new life it brings. He explained that the equinox is a symbol of the Manifestations of God, who include Jesus, 
Muhammad, the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh among others, and the message that they proclaim is like a spiritual springtime, and that Naw-Rúz is used to commemorate it.

Baháʼu'lláh, in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, defines Naw-Rúz as the day on which the vernal equinox
occurs. 

The exact timing of Naw-Rúz for Baháʼís worldwide depends on the choice of a particular spot on the Earth and was left to the Universal House of Justice, the governing body of the Baháʼís, to decide.

In 2014, the Universal House of Justice chose Tehran as the particular spot. Since Baháʼí days start at sundown, if the equinox occurs just before sunset, the day which started on the previous sunset is Naw-Rúz. Thus Naw-Rúz could fall on either March 20, 21st or 22nd of the Gregorian calendar, though these dates are pre-calculated years in advance.

All dates in the Baháʼí calendar are set in relation to Naw-Rúz and thus may shift on the Gregorian calendar by a day or two depending on the timing of the vernal equinox.

Baháʼu'lláh wrote in his ‘Book of Laws’, ‘…O people of the world! We have enjoined upon you fasting during a brief period, and at its close have designated Naw Rúz as a feast.… Say: this day, verily, is the crown of all the months and the source thereof, the day on which the breath of life is wafted over all created things.’

As with all Baháʼí holy days, there are few fixed rules for observing Naw-Rúz, and Baháʼís all over the world celebrate it as a festive day, according to local custom.

Naw-Rúz, also known as The Bahá’í New Year, is observed next on Wednesday, March 20th, 2024. It is observed annually on March 21st until 2014. It has been observed the 1st day of the year in the Baháʼí calendar since 2015.

Naw-Rúz, which means “New Day”, is celebrated at the vernal equinox, on the first day of spring. It is a time of joy and celebration, with the darkness of winter coming to an end and the reappearance of light, warmth and the beauty of spring’s flowers. It is a day of new beginnings – of change and hope.

However, for Baháʼís, Naw-Rúz also has deep spiritual significance.

Naw-Rúz marks the end of the 19-day Baháʼí Fast, which is a period of reflection and profound spiritual reinvigoration for Baháʼís. Naw-Rúz was ordained by Baháʼu'lláh as a celebration of humanity’s “spiritual springtime”: the Baháʼí dispensation.

The Baháʼí dispensation began with the 
Declaration of the Báb, whose entire Mission was to prepare the worl for a Divine Teacher with a Message He considered greater than His own: Baháʼu'lláh. The revelation of Baháʼu'lláh – the latest in humanity’s long history of receiving Divine Teachings through the Messengers of God – is often, in Baháʼí Writings, likened to the beginning of springtime.

This is one of humanity's oldest holidays, and although it may be often called Persian New Year, it predates the Persian Empire and can be traced back 5,000 years to the Sumerian and the Babylonian civilisations. Naw-Rúz begins on either 20 March or 21 March, on the spring equinox, when the days and nights are equal lengths, with days then becoming longer signifying the arrival of warmer weather.

For the Baháʼís, Naw-Rúz, also written as Nowruz, the first day of a New Year coinciding with the Spring Equinox, comes at the end of 19 days of fasting.

Baháʼu'lláh, the Prophet-Founder of the Baháʼí Faith wrote:
“O friends! It behoveth you to refresh and revive your souls through the gracious favours which in this Divine, this soul-stirring Springtime are being showered upon you.”

Naw-Rúz means “New Year” or “new day.”) Naw-Rúz probably originated with Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra), the monotheistic Messenger who founded Zoroastrianism ten centuries before Jesus Christ.

In 2016, 173 years after the beginnings of the Baháʼí Faith, Baháʼís all over the world will celebrate Naw-Ruz as the annual, celebratory feast of renewal, the spiritual and physical springtime. As flowers bloom and bushes bud out and birds trill in the trees, the Baháʼís will smile and laugh and hug each other warmly.

But for Baháʼís, Naw-Rúz isn’t only a party – it serves as a symbolic reminder of the oneness of all the Messengers of God, and the spiritual springtime they each brought to humanity. Abdu’l-Baha explains that Naw-Rúz represents the return of the Sun of Reality, when a re-awakening of the spirit occurs and the light of a new revelation shines equally upon the entirety of God’s creation:

…just as the solar cycle has its four seasons, the cycle of the Sun of Reality has its distinct and successive periods. Each brings its vernal season or springtime. When the Sun of Reality returns to quicken the world of mankind a divine bounty descends from the heaven of generosity. The realm of thoughts and ideals is set in motion and blessed with new life. Minds are developed, hopes brighten, aspirations become spiritual, the virtues of the human world appear with freshened power of growth and the image and likeness of God become visible in man. It is the springtime of the inner world…

In it the former springtime has returned, the world is resuscitated, illumined and attains spirituality; religion is renewed and reorganized, hearts are turned to God, the summons of God is heard and life is again bestowed upon man.

Naw-Rúz marks the end of the 19-day Baháʼí Fast, which is a period of reflection and profound spiritual reinvigoration. Naw-Rúz is a celebration of a “spiritual springtime” that symbolizes both individual renewal and mankind's revitalization.

For Baha'i's, Naw Rúz is the first day of Farvardin, which is the first month of the Persian solar year. In the Badi` calendar of the Báb, Naw Rúz is the day of Baha of the month of Baha, a day called by the Báb `the Day of God' (yawmu'llah). It was also the `Day of the Point' (yawm-i-nuqtih) or the day of the Báb. Finally, it is also a day associated with Him Whom God shall make manifest, the Promised One of the Báb. The remaining eighteen days of the month of Farvardin were associated with the eighteen Letters of the Living. This indicates that the Báb envisioned the Naw Rúz festivities encompassing the nineteen days of the month of Baha.

In the Badi` calendar of the Báb, Naw Rúz is the day of Baha of the month of Baha, a day called by the Báb `the Day of God' (yawmu'llah). It was also the `Day of the Point' (yawm-i-nuqtih) -- i.e. the day of the Báb.

Finally, it was a day associated with Him Whom God shall make manifest, the Promised One of the Báb. The remaining eighteen days of the month were associated with the eighteen Letters of the Living, an indication that the Bab envisioned the Naw Rúz festivities encompassing the nineteen days of the month of Baha, just as the traditional Iranian Naw Rúz festivities last thirteen days.

The Baha'i' teachings explain that Naw Rúz  represents “the Day of God,” when a re-awakening of the spirit occurs, a spiritual springtime dawns, and the light of a new revelation shines equally upon the entirety of God's creation: It is new year—that is to say, the rounding of the cycle of the year.

The UN’s General Assembly in 2010 recognized the International Day of Naw-Rúz, describing it as a spring festival of Persian origin which has been celebrated for over 3,000 years. During the meeting of The Inter-governmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage of the United Nations, held between 28 September – 2 October 2009 in Abu Dhabi, Naw-Rúz was officially registered on the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Naw-Rúz is one of nine Baháʼí holy days where work and school must be suspended; the only one that is not associated with an event in the lives of either the Báb or Baháʼu'lláh.