Tag: News

How did you spend Naw-Ruz? Send us your photos!

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Yesterday (Wednesday 21 March) saw Bahá’ís throughout the Thames Valley mark Naw-Ruz, the Bahá’í New Year’s Day. The festival is held on the spring equinox (March 21) and symbolises the new life of spring. It also marks the end of the Bahá’í Faith’s annual 19-day fast for adults. The 19-day fast – between sunrise and sunset – is essentially a period of meditation and prayer, of spiritual recuperation.

The Naw-Ruz is one of the nine holy days of the year when work is suspended. Observing Naw-Ruz takes different multi-cultural forms in the 120,000 places where Bahá’ís reside around the world. Many Bahá’ís mark the occasion with family and friends on Naw-Ruz – often these get-togethers are celebrations which will include readings of prayers from the Bahá’í scriptures, as well as music, dance and food.

How did you celebrate Naw-Ruz? Let us know who you are, whereabouts in the world you are and what you did, using the comment button below!  You can even send your Naw-Ruz photographs to susan@1bahai.org

First day of spring heralds a new year

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For most people in West Berkshire, 21 March won’t anything out of the ordinary. But for the area’s Bahá’í Community, it will be their New Year’s Day.

The Bahá’í New Year, also known as Naw-Ruz (which means New Day), coincides with the start of spring and is the year 167 in the Bahá’í calendar, which dates from 1844 (birth of the Bahá’í Faith).

Myra Erbenova, a member of the Bahá’í Faith in West Berkshire, said: “As the official start of spring, this is a perfect time to celebrate starting afresh and committing ourselves to a spiritual awakening. Just as everything is coming alive after the winter, Bahá’ís view the New Year as a time of promise and hope for unity.”

Naw-Ruz is often celebrated with an evening of prayers from the Bahá’í scriptures, music, dance and food. For more details about the Bahá’í Faith, please call 07964 676461.