Frawardigan
Frawardigan denotes the 10 days at the end of the Zoroastrian year on which the souls of the deceased are remembered.
The name frawardigan is a Middle Persian name that alludes to the fravashi (pre-existing human souls, guardian spirits) of the Zoroastrians. These include the souls of the dead, the living, and the unborn. The practice of worshiping the dead is older than the name and is already attested in the Avesta , especially in Yasht 13.49, where the rite is called Avestisch Hamaspathmaidyem , a word of unclear meaning. In the present day the festival is also called mukhtad or panji , " All Souls ".
Like all other Zoroastrian festivals, Frawardigan was one day and took place on the last day of the year. This day, called pateti , from patet , "confession" , was a day of self- inquiry before the celebration of New Year's Day. The calendar reforms in the 3rd and 4th centuries led to an extension of the celebrations and the introduction of leap days ( Gatha days) at the end of the 12th month.
Frawardigan was celebrated together for ten days. There was a mukhtad of 18 days among the Zoroastrians of India . Frawardigan is not to be confused with Fraward Jashan , the festival day on the 19th day (frawarden) of the 1st month (frawarden) of the Zoroastrian calendar .
In the Middle Ages, dishes consecrated to the ancestors according to Al-Biruni's chronology of the 10th century were exhibited. It was believed that the ancestral spirits would return to be with their families. Even today, the houses in both Zoroastrian communities (the Indian Parsi and Iran) are carefully cleaned and prepared for the arrival of the spirits. A lamp is lit to greet them. It shines for the entire duration of the festival. Frawardigan is characterized by cheerfulness and piety and is hardly touched by a fear of the afterlife.
Frawardigan is at the same time a time of inner contemplation and reflection, of repentance and penance. Zoroastrians still gather in their temples today to pray prayers for their ancestors. After the worship, the families offer fruit, incense, flowers, wood and money in rituals led by a priest at the temple fire.
literature
- Mary Boyce : On the Calendar of the Zoroastrian Feasts. In: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Volume 33, Number 3, 1970, pp. 513-539.
- Mary Boyce: History of Zoroastrianism. Volume 1, Brill, Leiden 1982.
- William W. Malandra: Frawardīgān . In: Ehsan Yarshater (ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica . Volume 10 (2), p. 199, status: 2000 (English, including references)
Individual evidence
- ^ DN Mackenzie: A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary . Routledge, 2014, ISBN 978-1-136-61396-8 ( online ).