Festival of Riḍván

The story behind the day

The Festival of Riḍván is a twelve-day Bahá'í festival, kept from 21 April to 2 May. It commemorates the days in 1863 that Bahá'u'lláh spent in a garden near Baghdad, where, Bahá'ís hold, he told his close companions that he was the messenger the Báb had foretold. Bahá'ís count it as their greatest festival. Its first, ninth and twelfth days are holy days on which work is suspended, and on the first day local communities elect their Local Spiritual Assemblies.^[1–7]

Origins

the Garden of Riḍván on the Tigris 1863, roses, tents — The Garden of Riḍván on the Tigris 1863, roses, tentsIllustration · AI-generated

Bahá'u'lláh, exiled from Iran, had settled with his family in Baghdad. In 1863 the Ottoman authorities sent him on towards Constantinople. Shortly before he left, he and his companions spent twelve days in a garden beside the Tigris, a place remembered as Riḍván, meaning “Paradise.” There, in the Bahá'í account, he declared himself the one whom the Báb had heralded, and he did so to a small circle rather than to the public. Bahá'í sources place this at the end of April 1863, and the festival's first day, 21 April, stands for its anniversary; one scholarly encyclopedia, however, dates the declaration to 8 April.^{[3, 8–12]}

What it marks

For Bahá'ís the declaration opens Bahá'u'lláh's own mission and closes the Bábí era, since he was the promised figure the Báb had foretold. The commentary on the Kitáb-i-Aqdas records that he called it the “King of Festivals,” and Shoghi Effendi notes that the title “Most Great Festival” was used as well. Reference works agree on its rank, describing the announcement as the foremost event of the Bahá'í year. The festival's twelve days recall the time he and his companions spent in the garden.^{[4, 10, 13]}

How it came to be

The public proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh's mission came later, in Adrianople, after he had been moved on from Constantinople. The twelve days in the garden then became the annual Festival of Riḍván, and the Kitáb-i-Aqdas commentary names its first, ninth and twelfth days as holy days. Riḍván also became the season of Bahá'í administration: the Constitution of the Universal House of Justice directs that each Local Spiritual Assembly be elected on the First Day of Riḍván, and the Universal House of Justice itself was first elected on that day in 1963.^{[5, 7, 14–16]}

How it is kept

elections in a local assembly room — Elections in a local assembly roomIllustration · AI-generated

On the three holy days Bahá'ís avoid work where they can. Communities gather in homes and community centres on those days to read from Bahá'í texts, pray and celebrate together. The first day recalls Bahá'u'lláh's arrival at the garden, the ninth the arrival of his family, and the twelfth his departure for Constantinople. On the first day, the adult believers of a locality elect a nine-member Local Spiritual Assembly, a body chosen anew each year.^{[6, 17–19]}

Sources

Each statement above was checked against published sources; the verdict says whether it stood as written, was corrected or was hedged.