Azargan celebration

Azargan festival is one of the ancient festivals in Iran which is celebrated by followers of Zoroastrian religion. Although today it cannot be claimed that this celebration is performed with the same ancient enthusiasm, however, it is still held in cities of Iran, especially those cities that have been protected from natural hazards and enemy attacks.

Azargan festival is one of the hundreds of ancient festivals of Iran, however, its value and importance are very high and many Zoroastrians all over Iran celebrate this day by stomping their feet and lighting fire.

Holding this celebration is important not only among Zoroastrian followers but also among people who value the history of Iran.

In this article, we have decided to investigate this ancient festival and find out the reason for its celebration in Zoroastrianism. Then I will mention the cities that still perform this ritual and what special customs are performed on this day. If you also want to get acquainted with the Azargan festival of Iranians in the ancient and modern times, we suggest you follow us until the end of this article.
What is the Azar festival?

Azargan celebration or Azar celebration! Both are a special celebration in November. This celebration is held on the ninth day of Azar, but not according to the solar calendar, but according to the Zoroastrian calendar; If we want to tell the exact time of this festival according to the solar calendar, we must say that this festival will be held on the third of December. This day is six days earlier in the Zoroastrian calendar and is known as the 9th of Azar.

The ninth month of Azar in the Zoroastrian calendar is called Azar. Yes! You got it right. A day of a month is equal to the name of the same month. In ancient Iran, all the days of the year had a special name, and it is interesting to know that the ninth day of the ninth zodiac sign of a Zoroastrian year was also called Azar, and this day was given this name because of the great importance of fire in ancient Iran.

During these discussions, you must have realized that Azar means fire and Azargan festival or Azar Jashan also refers to the fire festival. Ator, Atash and Azar are all words that have been used throughout history to commemorate this day. Today, in Persian culture and the solar calendar, the name Azar is used instead of the word fire.

The reason for celebrating Azargan

In the shortest possible way, the high value and status of fire in the eyes of ancient Iranians can be considered as the reason for holding Azargan festival. But why do they celebrate Azargan on the ninth day of Azar? The onset of cold weather is also the cause of this. Lighting the fire and praying to the god of fire to be safe from the cold is the most important goal of this celebration.

In Zoroastrianism, fire has such value and prestige that they consider him as a deity and worship him. They believe that all human power comes from fire, and if there is no fire, no human will survive on the planet. In fact, they believe that:

Man gets his body strength from food, and if there is no fire, there will be no food.
If there is no fire, man will perish in the cold and severe frosts and will not have the ability to continue living.
If there is no fire, the darkness of the night destroys a person, and a person cannot defend himself against predatory animals.
If there was no fire, there would be no steam power and no progress would be imagined for man.

Azargan festival customs

Zoroastrians believe that Azargan is the son of Ahura Mazda. For this reason, they worship in front of the fire to praise their God. Lighting the fire is the most important ceremony that is performed on this day of the year. They stomp their feet away from the fire and consider this stomping as a servant to their God.

On the 9th of Azar, the followers of Zoroastrian religion treat each other with sweets and delicious food and consult with each other about their affairs. They believe that consulting on this day is very auspicious, and for this reason, they postpone many of their important decisions to this day.

Zoroastrians clean their houses a few days before Azargan festival and wear new and clean clothes on the day of the festival. They believe that it is better to wear white clothes and decorate their hair and nails on this day. Women used to make up their face on this day and men used to decorate the bonfires.

At the end of the ceremony, each family would take a torch from the burning fire in the fire temple to their home and bless their home with it. They took care of that flame until the end of winter and the end of the cold and did not let it go out. They considered the extinguishing of the flame during the winter as inevitable, and for this reason, they kept it until the end of the cold.