Parwanaya

Culture of origin: Mandaean · Cultural

Holiday sources: Iran · Mandaeism

Parwanaya, also called Panja (from Persian 'five'), is the five-day Mandaean festival of the intercalary days added after Šumbulta, the eighth month. It celebrates the five days in which Hayyi Rabbi created the uthri, the heavenly beings, and the universe. Baptism (masbuta), the masiqta for the souls of ancestors and other rites are held, and in Iraq Mandaeans gather for them on the banks of the Tigris. It is the first of the four main Mandaean feasts of the year, the Feast of Creation, five white days not divided by night, when Mandaeans immerse themselves in running water, ask forgiveness of their sins and remember the dead, dressed in white cotton.