"Just like Now Rooz is the celebration of vernal equinox, Mehregan is the celebration of the autumnal equinox which this year happened at 20.02 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), on September 22, corresponding to 13.02 PDT (Pacific Time), 16.02 EDT (Eastern Time) and 23.32 Iran Standard Time on September 23,” pointed out researcher Fariborz Rahnamoon. He further writes,
"Due to persecution, genocide and cultural cleansing, the Zarathushtis lost track of their ancient calendar which has earned the title of the ‘perfect calendar’ in the world. This calendar is described in the Bundahisn. Modern Zarathushtis have instead ended up with three different calendars, none of which is accurate and consequently they lost the reason behind the celebration of the Mehregan festival.
"Even the Fasli calendar followed by some is not really a seasonal calendar as the name may suggest for according to it autumn starts on September 17, six days ahead of the actual season. They have selected a day in the month of Meher to celebrate Mehregan for a host of arbitrary reasons other than the autumnal equinox.
"Zarathushtis managed to preserve and celebrate two of the festivals — Now Rooz on the spring equinox, and Yalda on the winter solstice — at the proper time and for the right reasons. They also managed to bring back their ancient calendar exactly as described in the Bundahisn. They dedicated it in 1079 CE to the then King and called it the Jalali calendar. This calendar had its ups and down and finally in 1925, during the reign of Reza Shah, the parliament accepted it as the official calendar of Iran.
"In Iran, Zarathushtis have lately started using this calendar but have superimposed the 30 names of the days creating an even greater confusion. So instead of celebrating Mehregan on the 17th day of Meher of the Fasli calendar, or on the 10th day of Meher of the Jalali calendar, neither of which is correct, let’s celebrate the autumnal equinox on September 23, as per the Mazdayasni calendar described in the Bundahisn. Let’s honor the wisdom and science of our ancestors. RUSI SORABJI
Los Angeles, California, USA
rustam@sorabji.org