Panje-o-Tar

Culture of origin: Yarsan · Cultural

Holiday sources: Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq)

In the Kurdish garmsiri calendar the days from the end of 29 Esfand to 5 Farvardin are counted in no month; the third month of the Kurdish spring begins on 6 Farvardin. "Panje" means five, and "tar" means separated, like a sheep left behind by the flock: in a leap year 30 Esfand is the tar, a day that belongs to neither the old year nor the new. The Yarsan have long held these days sacred. Nomads and villagers used to mark the foreheads of their animals and the entrances of their houses and black tents with dough, so that illness and misfortune would keep away from the family and the flock in the year ahead.