Zartosht no-diso, or Zarthost no deeso, is an important day of remembrance in the
Zoroastrian religion. It is a commemoration of the death anniversary of the
prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...
Zoroaster
Zarathushtra Spitama, more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian peoples, Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism ...
. It is observed on the 11th day (Khorshed) of the 10th month (
Dae). In the seasonal calendar, Zarthost No-Diso falls on December 26.
It is an occasion of remembrance with lectures and discussions held on the life and works of the
prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...
. Attendance at the
fire temple is very high during this occasion. A much higher number of
mobed
A mobed, mowbed, or mobad (Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭢𐭥𐭯𐭲) is a Zoroastrian cleric of a particular rank. Unlike a '' herbad'' (''ervad''), a ''mobed'' is qualified to serve as celebrant priest at the Yasna ceremony and other higher liturgi ...
s are brought to pray at the
Atash Behram
An Atash Behram (Fire of Victory) is the highest grade of fire that can be placed in a Zoroastrian fire temple as an eternal flame. The other two lower graded fires are Atash Adaran and below Adaran is the Atash Dadgah; these three grades signif ...
s and
Atash Adarans. There is no mourning in the Zoroastrian religion, only remembrance and worship of the
Farohars of the departed.
However, Zoroaster's death is not mentioned in the ''
Avesta
The Avesta (, Book Pahlavi: (), Persian language, Persian: ()) is the text corpus of Zoroastrian literature, religious literature of Zoroastrianism. All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet. Mod ...
''. Nonetheless, in the ''
Shahnama'' 5.92,
[.] he is said to have been murdered at the altar by the
Turan
Turan (; ; , , ) is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical region, or a culture. The original Turanians were an Iranian tribe of th ...
ians in the storming of
Balkh
Balkh is a town in the Balkh Province of Afghanistan. It is located approximately to the northwest of the provincial capital city Mazar-i-Sharif and approximately to the south of the Amu Darya and the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan border. In 2021 ...
.
References
Zoroastrian holy days
Observances set by the Solar Hijri calendar
December observances
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