Today is the holy day of sepandarmazd Amshasepand and the month of Amordad; 5th of Amordad of the year 3759 of Zoroastrian calendar, Friday, 1st of Amordad, 1400 official solar calendar; Amordad: the symbol of eternity and immortality; 23rd July, 2021.
Pourya-ye Vali (Mahmoud Kharzmi), Iranian champion, noble, mystic and poet, died on 1st of Amordad, 699 years ago.
The exact date of pourya-ye Vali’s death is not known. According to the Russians, he died on July 23, 1322, at 67. Pourya-ye vali was one of the most famous champions of Iran; and one who had a highly honorable position among the athletes in terms of morality. This hero’s name was Mahmoud Kharzmi but was known as “Pourbay Vali”. This title, in Turkish, means “great” and “Vali” is his father’s name, or maybe referring to his leadership position. Some say “Vali” was his own name and “Bay” or “Beig” in Turkish, was his father’s title. Pourya-ye Vali (Mahmoud Kharazmi, Pourya-ye Vali, Pour Bay) was an Iranian champion, mystic and poet, who was a skilled athlete in the “Zoorkhaneh” (traditional sports club). The closest biographer to the time of Pourya Vali was Kamaluddin Hussein Gazargahi, the author of Majalis al-Oshaq, who has used the nickname “Pourya” for him, because he believed that Pourya is a combination of the words Pari (fairy) and Yar (friend) and is connected to those who have excelled in doing extraordinary things. Writers have disagreed about the birthplace of this honorable hero, some consider him to be from Organj (One of the cities of Kharazm) and some think he is from Ganja. Others believe him to be from Salmas and Khoy. Based on an ancient scroll from the Safavid period. The image of this scroll is in the book ancient Iranian sports written by Dr. Parviz Var Javand.”
Pourya-ye Vali started wrestling from a young age and also had skills in making pustine (furrier) and making hats. During his youth, he traveled to various cities in Iran and India, wrestled everywhere, and was famous for his high physical ability and skill in wrestling. Gradually he became a renowned champion. He was also popular among people for his virtues and chastity, and morality among Iranian athletes. As a virtuous man, he has a high position among the people.
Pourya-ye Vali underwent a great spiritual transformation is his mid-life, and there are many stories about this event. The story of his life is intertwined with myth and story.
There is a lot of speculation about the burial place of Pourya Vali, but according to the most documented stories, the main tomb of Pourya Vali is located in the city of Khoy in the province of West Azerbaijan.
The other two tombs are attributed to Pouria Vali in Khiva, Uzbekistan, and between Someh Sara and Fooman. The tomb between Soomehsara and Fooman is a cultural-historical complex built between the 8th and 14th centuries AH to commemorate the name of Pahlavan Mahmud. It is newlywed couples visit the tomb of Pehlvan Mahmoud after the wedding ceremony.
One of the documents in this regard is in the form of a story, told by the people of Khoy, about Pourya-ye Vali, by word of mouth, from the distant past about the grave of Pourya-ye Vali, and we cannot simply ignore these stories. However, the following story, also mentioned in old books, and popular among the people of Khoy, shows why Pourya-ye Vali became a star. This story is so popular among the people of Khoy that:
The young pauper falls in love with a king’s daughter. Since he is from the lower class of society, he cannot express his love to the king’s daughter, so he became ill. After treating the boy, the mother of this orphaned boy came to know about his love for the king’s daughter and because her son’s illness was getting worse, she went to the king and told him about this love. The king put a condition for the boy and that was that he should win from Pourya-ye Vali in a wrestling match.
This was almost impossible. The mother went to a mosque in Khoy and made a vow. At that same time Pourya-ye Vali was in the mosque. The boy’s mother hadn’t seen him before. Pourya-ye Vali asked her the reason for making this vow, and she told him the story and that her son should win from Pourya in order to win the king’s daughter’s hand. Here, between fame and chivalry Pourya-ye Vali chose chivalry and lost the match to the young boy. This loss effected his fame in the town, and this secret was revealed only after Pourya-ye Vali died.
These words are attributed to Pourya-ye Vali: “Learn to be humble if you are seeking true happiness. Water cannot reach land that is high up”. There is a mathnavi (long poem) left from Pourya-ye Vali.
In the Zoroastrian calendar, the fifth day of each month of Sepandarmazd is called Sepand Aramaiti. Sepenta Aramaiti is one of the Zoroastrian lady Izads and Amshaspand. She is the guardian of the earth and, at the same time, the manifestation of obedience, loyalty, and worship.
This word, which in Avestan is “Spenta-Ârmaiti” and is known as the name of the fourth Amshaspand, is divided into two parts “Sepenta” (Spenta) or “Sepand,” meaning clear and holy and “armaiti” (Ârmaiti), is composed of humility and patience, and together the two are pure and holy modesty. In Middle Persian (Pahlavi), this word is “Sepandarmat” (SpandÂrmat) and in Persian is “Sepandarmaz”, “Esfandarmaz”, and “Esfand”.
Sepanta Aramaiti is one of the Zoroastrian goddesses and goddesses called Spante Armiti or Spante Armiti or Sepand Aramaic in Avestan language, in Pahlavi language is called Sepandarmaz or Sepandarmat. In Persian, it is also called Sepandarmad. Amshaspand Sepandarmaz is the guardian and goddess of the green earth and a sign of fertility and childbirth.
In the Pahlavi dictionary, Sepandarmat, or Sepandarmaz, is the name of one of the Amshaspandand, and at the same time, introduced as the name of the 5th day of the month and the 12th month of the year. She is considered to be the very ancient goddess of esfand. It is said that she is accompanied by two other Amshaspands, namely Horvatat (Khordad) and Amoratat (Amordad), and these three groups of Amshaspands form the symmetry of the first three Amshaspands, namely Vahman (Vohuman or Bahman), Ashe Vahishtah (Ordibehesht) and Xshatra Vairya (Shahrivar).
This attribute is manifested in human beings with modesty, love and serving others. Sepandarmazd is the guardian of the earth and women in the world. A land gives everything it has to living beings without expectation, and women like the mother, who is kind and gentle like the earth, love without expecting a loving response. Women and earth have many similarities. Women and earth are symbols of fertility and childbirth; life and existence that flows on is from the earth and from the woman.
