---

Khordad Sal

The birth anniversary of Prophet Spitaman Zarathushtra (Zoroaster), who founded Zoroastrianism, is celebrated as Khordad Sal. It falls sometime in August or September, on the sixth day of the Parsi month of Farvardin. The exact year of Zarathushtra's birth is not known, but it is generally accepted that he was born in the beginning of the first millennium BC.

Similarly, the day of his birth is also not precisely known, and the fixing of Khordad Sal as his birthday is symbolical. The religious lore and texts of the Parsis mention the festival and its importance. In some old Parsi texts, this day is also spoken of as the Navroz-I-Khas, which means 'special new year's day', while the real New Year's day is referred to as Navroz-I-Am, meaning 'common new year's day'.

In the olden days, the king and nobility, especially, observed Khordad Sal as Navroz-I-Khas. It is said to be the day on which many historic events of old Iran are said to have happened. Later, it came to be observed solely as Zarathushtra's birthday.