Parwanaya ( myz, ࡐࡀࡓࡅࡀࡍࡀࡉࡉࡀ; ar, البرونايا) or Panja (from Persian 'five') is a 5-day religious festival in the Mandaean calendar. The 5

epagomenal The intercalary month or epagomenal days. of the ancient Egyptian, Coptic, and Ethiopian calendars are a period of five days in common years and six days in leap years in addition to those calendars' 12 standard months, sometimes reckoned as thei ...

s (extra days) inserted at the end of every

Šumbulta Shumbulta or Šumbulta ( myz, ࡔࡅࡌࡁࡅࡋࡕࡀ) is the eighth month of the Mandaean calendar. Light fasting is practiced by Mandaeans from the 26th to 30th days of Shumbulta. The Parwanaya, or five intercalary days, take place immediately ...

(the 8th month) constitute the Parwanaya intercalary feast. The festival celebrates the five days that '' Hayyi Rabbi'' created the angels and the universe.

Origins

The

s in the

Egyptian calendar The ancient Egyptian calendar – a civil calendar – was a solar calendar with a 365-day year. The year consisted of three seasons of 120 days each, plus an intercalary month of five epagomenal days treated as outside of the year proper. Eac ...

were also considered to be sacred days in Ancient Egypt, as they were considered to be the birthdays of different gods. Today in the

Coptic calendar The Coptic calendar, also called the Alexandrian calendar, is a liturgical calendar used by the Coptic Orthodox Church and also used by the farming populace in Egypt. It was used for fiscal purposes in Egypt until the adoption of the Gregoria ...

, these five days are designated by the

Coptic Orthodox Church The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

s for different saints..

Rituals

The '' masbuta'' (baptism), '' Ṭabahata Masiqta'' (ascension of the soul ceremony for ancestors), and ''hawad mania'' rituals are held during the Parwanaya.Collection: Parwanaya (Banja) Festival: Unedited ClipsThe Worlds of Mandaean Priests
University of Exeter

Texts

Mandaean texts containing instructions for rituals performed during the Parwanaya include the ''Šarḥ ḏ-Parwanaia'' ("The Scroll of the Parwanaya") and ''Šarḥ ḏ-Ṭabahata'' (" Scroll of the Ancestors").

Gallery

Gallery of Mandaeans celebrating Parwanaya on the banks of the Tigris River in Amarah,

Maysan Governorate , image_map = Maysan in Iraq.svg , mapsize = 200px , settlement_type = Governorate , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_t ...

, Iraq on 17 March 2019: File:Mandaeans celebrating the Creation Day (Brunaya), Maysan, Iraq - Mar 17, 2019 01.jpg File:Mandaeans celebrating the Creation Day (Brunaya), Maysan, Iraq - Mar 17, 2019 02.jpg File:Mandaeans celebrating the Creation Day (Brunaya), Maysan, Iraq - Mar 17, 2019 03.jpg File:Mandaeans celebrating the Creation Day (Brunaya), Maysan, Iraq - Mar 17, 2019 04.jpg File:Mandaeans celebrating the Creation Day (Brunaya), Maysan, Iraq - Mar 17, 2019 05.jpg File:Mandaeans celebrating the Creation Day (Brunaya), Maysan, Iraq - Mar 17, 2019 06.jpg File:Mandaeans celebrating the Creation Day (Brunaya), Maysan, Iraq - Mar 17, 2019 07.jpg File:Mandaeans celebrating the Creation Day (Brunaya), Maysan, Iraq - Mar 17, 2019 08.jpg File:Mandaeans celebrating the Creation Day (Brunaya), Maysan, Iraq - Mar 17, 2019 09.jpg File:Mandaeans celebrating the Creation Day (Brunaya), Maysan, Iraq - Mar 17, 2019 10.jpg File:Mandaeans celebrating the Creation Day (Brunaya), Maysan, Iraq - Mar 17, 2019 11.jpg File:Mandaeans celebrating the Creation Day (Brunaya), Maysan, Iraq - Mar 17, 2019 12.jpg File:Mandaeans celebrating the Creation Day (Brunaya), Maysan, Iraq - Mar 17, 2019 13.jpg

References

External links