TEHRAN-- On Monday night, clusters of Iranian Zoroastrians celebrated the value of light, fire, and energy in a conventional mid-winter celebration gave from generation to generation for millennia.The festivity, which typically falls on January 30, is nowadays more popular among Zoroastrians in Tehran, Yazd, Shiraz, and Kerman.The feast, according to legend, honors the fictitious discovery of fire.
When the action reaches its peak, they light a large pile of wood on fire.In an effort to maintain the revered celebration, Jashn-e Sadeh was contributed to Irans National Intangible Cultural Heritage list in May 2020.
The event, which is called after the number 100 (Sad in Farsi), occurs 50 days and 50 nights prior to Noruz, the start of the Iranian fiscal year on March 21.
It is emphasized by a popular belief that commemorating the day the earth starts to warm up is a mid-winter ritual.The origins of the celebration are uncertain, according to specialists, and there is no reference of this event in the Zoroastrian holy texts.
The worlds earliest monotheistic faith, Zoroastrianism, is stated to have actually preceded the ceremony, according to some historians.Some individuals believe that Sadeh is an event to celebrate fire and ward off the forces of coldness, ice, and darkness.
The celebration is connected to the beginnings of people in a number of mythological stories.
Houshang, the 2nd king of the world in Persian folklore, is said to have found fire while attempting to strike a dragon with a stone.
According to reports, he threw a flintstone, which when it struck another flintstone, produced a trigger and started a fire.Some Zoroastrian priests (Moobeds) recite verses from the Avesta, the Zoroastrian faiths holy book, prior to starting the massive open fire.
As a mark of tidiness and orderliness, the priests are always attired in white cotton bathrobes, pants, and hats.
In addition, Moobeds and Zoroastrian ladies and young boys, all dressed in white and carrying torches, circle the cluster of shrubs.
The cheers of the crowd magnify as they light the fire.AFM