Festival of Riḍván · Riḍván

Culture of origin: Bahá’í · Cultural

Holiday sources: Bahá'í Faith

The Festival of Riḍván, which Bahá'ís call the "Most Great Festival" and the "King of Festivals", recalls the twelve days Bahá'u'lláh spent in the Garden of Riḍván, across the Tigris from Baghdad, before leaving for Constantinople; he entered it on 22 April 1863 and left on the twelfth day. Its first, ninth and twelfth days are holy days on which work and school are suspended, usually kept with a community gathering for prayers followed by a celebration. Local and national Spiritual Assemblies hold their yearly elections during Riḍván. In April and May 2015 the Islamic Republic's authorities sealed dozens of Bahá'í shops in Rafsanjan, Kerman, Sari and Hamadan whose owners had closed them for the Bahá'í holy days, and told shopkeepers that unless they signed a pledge to close only on recognized national holidays, their licences would be revoked and their shops closed for good (Bahá'í World News Service).