Jamshed-E-Navroz

According to Shah Nameh, the Persian `Book of Kings' written by Firdausi, Jamshed-E-Navroz was celebrated by the kings of Persia, Cyrus and Darius, to rejoice in the spring and in their own glory. It marks the advent of spring in February-March and the vernal equinox, as noted down by the priests in Iran and later informed to the Zoroastrians all over the world.

A popular legend says that King Jamshed was the first to celebrate this festival. The Shah Nameh states that the feast commemorates the ascent of King Jamshed into the skies, in a chariot built by the demons he had subdued and forced into the service of mortals.

Named after him, Jamshed-E-Navroz appears to have been a pagan pastoral festival that marked the transition from winter to summer. However the rites of fertility and procreation can be felt in some of the customs.