Gâhanbâr, Its Ancient Written Tradition and Current Customs

Gâhanbâr is the name of six annual celebrations which divides the year into six seasons or periods. According to the Pahlavi writings, each of the six Gâhanbârs is the time of creation of one of the parts of the world. The antecedents of the Gâhanbârs date back to pre-Zoroastrian times. As most scientists believe, these celebrations were very old and belonged to the Aryan tribes and their settlers. What we do know is that these different celebrations have been put together in different Zoroastrian texts in pre-Zoroastrian ethnicities and cultures and have created the most important Zoroastrian celebrations which was held this time in commemoration of the seven stages of creation of the spiritual and material creation of the universe. It has been going on for over two thousand years. This article examined and compared the ancient customs and rituals in the ancient written tradition and the living tradition of the Zoroastrians of Iran. In the first part, the ancient written tradition such as the Avestan sources, Middle Persian and Zoroastrian texts were studied; in the second part, data were obtained from interviews with Zoroastrians in different villages of Yazd. Gâhanbâr celebrations are now held in five days. The Gâhanbâr is very common among the Zoroastrians of Iran. Most Zoroastrians, whether poor or rich, consider holding at least one sacrificial creator a year as their religious duty.