IOverview
Fasli means seasonal. It is the name of the Zoroastrian calendar with a leap day every four years, so that New Year always falls on the spring equinox, around 21 March. In Iran it is called Bastani, the ancient calendar.
The two older calendars, Shahenshahi and Qadimi, have no leap day, so festivals drift away from their seasons: a midspring feast can end up in midsummer. The Fasli calendar was designed to fix that. As with the other two, its followers are not a sect: same teaching, scriptures and temples, different reckoning of days.
IIHistory
According to English Wikipedia, in 1906 the Zarthosti Fasili Sal Mandal society in India proposed the Fasli calendar, based on the Jalali calendar introduced in 1079 under the Seljuk ruler Malik Shah, which had a leap day. In India most Parsis did not adopt it. In Iran, after a campaign in the 1930s, the Fasli calendar under the name Bastani was widely taken up, partly because it matched the Iranian state's calendar reform of 1925, which also used ancient month names and began the year at the equinox. From the second half of the 20th century, Zoroastrians of Iranian origin carried it to North America, Europe and Australia.
- 1079Jalali calendarA leap-day calendar introduced under Malik Shah, the basis of the Fasli.
- 1906Fasli calendar proposedPut forward by the Zarthosti Fasili Sal Mandal in India.
- 1925Iranian calendar reformIran adopts a solar calendar with ancient month names and New Year at the equinox.
- 1930sCampaign in IranMany Iranian Zoroastrians adopt it as the Bastani calendar.
IIIHow the Calendar Works, and the Debate
The Fasli calendar keeps twelve months of thirty days plus five Gatha days, and adds a sixth Gatha day in leap years. As a result, 1 Farvardin is always 21 March. The ten days of Muktad fall around 11 to 20 March, a day earlier in leap years, and Khordad Sal falls on the sixth day of the new year.
The two sides see the matter differently. Fasli supporters argue that the calendar must match the seasons, since the Gahambars are seasonal feasts, and that fixing New Year at the equinox is a return to the original spirit. According to English Wikipedia, many Parsis in India have not adopted it, and some hold that adding a leap day breaks with a practice kept for centuries. The library records both views without ruling between them.
Misconception: the Fasli New Year and Iran's national Nowruz are different days. In fact: they coincide at the spring equinox. The difference is that Nowruz today is a shared new year for many peoples of many faiths, while the Fasli New Year is the first day of the Zoroastrian religious calendar.
IVObservances in the Fasli Calendar
For Fasli followers the religious New Year is also Nowruz, so in Iran and in Iranian-origin communities abroad the religious and national celebrations merge: the New Year table, visits to relatives, a trip to the fire temple. The Gahambars return to their proper seasons, with the midspring feast falling in midspring. The ten days of Muktad, welcoming the fravashis of the ancestors, come just before the equinox.
VWho Follows It and Where
The Fasli calendar has no organisation of its own. According to English Wikipedia, most of the community in Iran follows it, except some groups such as the Sharifabadis of Yazd, who keep the Qadimi. In North America, Australia and Europe it is widely used in associations with many members of Iranian origin, while the largely Indian-origin community in Britain favours the Shahenshahi. The same source notes that the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe recognise both systems. In India few follow the Fasli. The library has found no membership figures for any of the calendars.
VIIn Vietnam
No followers of the Fasli calendar are recorded in Vietnam. The Fasli New Year, the spring equinox, is the day Iranian communities around the world celebrate Nowruz. The library has no source on Nowruz gatherings of Iranians in Vietnam.
VIISymbol of the Branch
No symbol of its own is recorded with a source for this branch, so the library uses the common symbol of the path.
VIIIOther Branches of Zoroastrianism
Parsisપારસી ParsiDescendants of Zoroastrians who left Iran for Gujarat over a thousand years ago.
Iranian Zoroastriansزرتشتیان ZartoshtiyanZoroastrians who remained in Iran, centred in Yazd, Kerman and Tehran, with a Council of Mobeds in Tehran.Iranis (India)IraniZoroastrians who came from Qajar Iran to British India in the 19th and early 20th centuries, still speaking Zoroastrian Dari.Uses the common symbol of the pathShahenshahi calendar groupShahanshahi, ShenshaiFollowers of the traditional Indian Parsi calendar, the majority among Parsis.Uses the common symbol of the pathKadmi (Qadimi) calendar groupQadimi, KadmiA section of Parsis adopted the Qadimi calendar in 1745.Uses the common symbol of the pathFasli calendar groupFasli, called Bastani in IranA seasonal calendar with a leap day, proposed in 1906 and widely adopted in Iran after 1930 and in the West.Uses the common symbol of the pathReformist ZoroastriansReformistA tendency since the mid-19th century that takes the Gathas as the core and treats much ritual law as later accretion.Uses the common symbol of the pathIlm-e-KhshnoomIlm-e KhshnoomAn esoteric school started by Behramshah Shroff in India after 1875, teaching reincarnation and vegetarianism and keeping strict ritual observance.Uses the common symbol of the pathZoroastrian revival in Iraqi KurdistanZardeshti (Kurdish)A Kurdish revival movement officially recognised by the Kurdistan Regional Government in August 2015, with a fire temple in Sulaymaniyah.Uses the common symbol of the pathZurvanismZurvanA Sasanian-era tendency that made Infinite Time the source of both Ohrmazd and Ahriman.Uses the common symbol of the pathIXSources
The library cross-checks the sources below. Where they disagree, the page gives both.
?Quick Questions
How does the Fasli calendar differ from the other two?
The Fasli calendar has a leap day every four years, so New Year always falls on the spring equinox, around 21 March. The Shahenshahi and Qadimi calendars have no leap day, so their festivals drift through the seasons.
Who follows the Fasli calendar?
Most Zoroastrians in Iran, where it is called Bastani, and many Iranian-origin communities in North America, Europe and Australia. Few Parsis in India follow it.
Why have many Parsis not adopted it?
According to English Wikipedia, many Parsis hold that adding a leap day breaks with centuries of practice. Fasli supporters argue that seasonal feasts must match the seasons. Both views continue side by side.