Zoroastrians of shiraz held the Mehragan ceremony on Mehr Izad day of Mehr month, of the Zoroastrian Calendar, equal to 10th Mehr, official calendar, in the Yazdani Hall of Shiraz, in which the Manthra participants were also commended.
the special Mehregan table, laid out beautifully, near the entrance of the hall, through the efforts of Parvaneh Kianipour and cooperation of Mahtab Goshtasbi, automatically attracted the eyes of every participant in this ceremony. the ceremony started at 17:00 on Sunday, October 10, 1401. At the beginning, the Shiraz Zoroastrian youth anthem group, led by Shabnam Pourdehi, performed a musical recitation of the Gathas, followed by the national anthem, a song that brought tears to the eyes of the members of the singing group and the participants of the program, tears that are a sign of pride in Iran and being Iranian, and a sign of patriotism and empathy for Iranians. Iranians from every nation, religion, and faith across Iran were and are sympathetic and united to maintain their peace and comfort, like the eight years of holy defense.
After greetings on Mehregan and the announcement of the program by the traditionally clad host of the program, Katayoun Namiranian, Khosrow Quds, the head of the Shiraz Zoroastrian Association, gave a speech. Ghods expressed his gratitude to the religious commission and those involved in this ceremony’s magnificent organization and his hope that this process will continue in the future. In a part of his speech, he mentioned the value of maintaining and preserving ceremonies and traditions and said: “The importance of this matter is not hidden from anyone, and today’s effort to keep them is not enough. Let us unite tonight to preserve our beautiful and meaningful customs and traditions. Let us try more than before and not fail to do anything possible in this direction.” In the final part of his speech, Qods introduced Shirin Manuchehri as this year’s student who passed the university entrance exam, which Shiraz Zoroastrian Association was informed of, and congratulated her on this success. After him, Dr Katayoun Namiranian spoke about the philosophy of Mehregan ceremony from point of view of promise (oath), justice and equality. The audience was impressed by her speech due to its simple and uncomplicated wordings and its new approach to the subject. In the end of Dr Namiranian’s speech, a play was performed by the children, in which a story of Mehregan was narrated, under supervision of Afrooz Sohrabi.
It was the first performance after February 2019, the start of the corona pandemic, when all ceremonies were held virtually. This once again brought joy and excitement to Yazdani Hall, and the narration of Mehregan’s philosophy and the story of Zahak and Kaveh the blacksmith by the children not only brought smiles to the faces of the audience and automatically made them cheer, but also swept away the dust of nostalgia from the face of Yazdani Hall of Shiraz and promised good days and a bright future for the Zoroastrian organization of Shiraz with the presence of this promising future generation. Aramis Kaviani, Oshta Nikzad, Artan Saraei, Rata Pourdehi, Viana Khosrowiani, Aria Mehrabanshahriari, and Diba Sohrabi played a role in this narrative, and interestingly, these children were the participants under ten years of age of this year’s Mantra conference, who performed in this program, and interestingly these same children were the under-10-years participants of this year’s manthra conference, were commended and presented gifts by the Zoroastrian Association. Mahsa and Parsa Dehmobed Sharifabadi, Mahtab Ghoshtasbi, participants of the Avasta reciting section, and Chista Nikzad, a participant of the Ghatology section of the Mantra-based project entitled History of Photography between Zoroastrians, were also commended. Also, gratitude was expressed for the efforts of Atri and Azita Qods as the teachers of ghatas to the younger children, and Dr Katayoun Namiranian, Farshid Khodadadi and Shervin Kavousi Zeinabad as judges of the Mantha conference, in the Avesta reciting section. In the end, the audience was entertained with hot dishes of traditional soup (ash). Nahid Felfeli was coordinator of this ceremony.
From long past, for Mehregaran, they would spread the table very much like the Nowrooz table. this tablecloth was spread around the hearth, and was purple in color, and red fruits of autumn such as pomegranate, apple, bergamot, grape, jujube, elderberry, and seven legumes were placed on it. A bowl full of rose water, water, vinegar, and thyme leaves, along with a mirror, Esfand, and oud, were also used to decorate the Mehjregan table. Mehregan was celebrated for the great angel, Mehr, and held on Mehr day (16th of Mehr month), and 10th of Mehr according to the official clae dar. This festival, in ancient times, was as important as Norooz and very similar to it. Just as Iranians celebrate Nowrooz as the end of the cold season and beginning of warm climate, Mehregan was celebrated in the middle of the year, with the end of the hot season and beginning of the cold. Customs of Mehregan are very similar to Nowrooz. Just as Nowrooz is attributed to the legendary king of Iran, king Jamshid, Mehregan is linked to the victories of shah Fereydoon, another Iranian king who defeated Zahak.
Photos by Shahram Pourdehi
