World Calendars
Zoroastrian calendar date today
Zoroastrians use a year of twelve 30-day months plus five extra days, and every day of the month has its own name. Three versions are in use today, and each starts the year on a different date.
29 Khordad 1396 Y.Z.
Roj Mahraspand, Mah Khordad (Shahenshahi)
- In the Gregorian calendar
- Wednesday 11 November 2026
- This day began
- At midnight, as Wednesday 11 November 2026 begins
- This day ends
- At midnight, as Thursday 12 November 2026 begins
- Kadmi
- 29 Tir 1396 Y.Z.
- Fasli
- 26 Aban 1396 Y.Z.
- Year 1396 Y.Z. began
- Saturday 15 August 2026
- Next new year
- Sunday 15 August 2027 (in 277 days)
- This year has
- 365 days in 12 months
- Years count from
- 19 June AD 632, the accession of Yazdegerd III (Gregorian calendar counted backwards)
- Who uses it
- Zoroastrians, including the Parsis of India and Zoroastrians in Iran and abroad
- How it works
- 12 months of 30 days, then 5 Gatha days, with each day named after a divinity
- Years count from
- The accession of Yazdegerd III, the last Sasanian king, in 632 CE (Y.Z.)
- Unusual detail
- Shahenshahi and Kadmi have no leap day, so New Year drifts one day every 4 years
Next holidays in this calendar
277 days
Navroz (Parsi New Year) 1 Farvardin 1397 Y.Z.
15 August 2027 ยท Zoroastrian (Parsi)
How the Zoroastrian calendar works
The year has twelve months of 30 days, followed by five extra days called the Gatha days, which belong to no month. Each of the 30 days of a month is dedicated to a divinity or divine idea and has its own name, starting with Ohrmazd (Ahura Mazda) on day 1. When the name of the day matches the name of the month, the day is a feast, such as day 19 of the month Farvardin.
The Shahenshahi and Kadmi versions always have 365 days and never add a leap day, so their New Year moves earlier against the Gregorian calendar by one day about every four years. Kadmi runs one month ahead of Shahenshahi. The Fasli version adds a sixth Gatha day every four years, which keeps its New Year on 21 March.
| No. | Month | Days |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Farvardin | 30 |
| 2 | Ardibehesht | 30 |
| 3 | Khordad | 30 |
| 4 | Tir | 30 |
| 5 | Amardad | 30 |
| 6 | Shehrevar | 30 |
| 7 | Mehr | 30 |
| 8 | Aban | 30 |
| 9 | Azar | 30 |
| 10 | Dae | 30 |
| 11 | Bahman | 30 |
| 12 | Asfand | 30 |
| - | Gatha days | 5 (6 in a Fasli leap year) |
Variants and the method used here
We show all three versions. Shahenshahi, followed by most Parsis in India, and Kadmi use a fixed 365-day year counted from the start of the Yazdegerdi era, with Kadmi New Year 30 days before Shahenshahi New Year. The Kadmi dates shown here for recent years are computed from that rule, not taken from a published Kadmi calendar. For Fasli we keep 1 Farvardin on 21 March and add the extra day, Avardad-sal-Gah, on 20 March in Gregorian leap years, as in published Fasli tables.
Zoroastrians in Iran celebrate Nowruz on the actual day of the spring equinox, so in some years it falls on 20 or 22 March. Traditionally a Zoroastrian day starts at sunrise, while this page changes the date at midnight.
A short history
The calendar of twelve 30-day months and five extra days probably dates from the Achaemenid Persian empire, around the 5th century BCE. Years are counted from the accession of Yazdegerd III, the last Sasanian king, in 632 CE. Because the year has exactly 365 days, it slowly drifted through the seasons.
The Parsis of India added one extra month in the 12th century and never repeated it, leaving them a month behind Zoroastrians in Iran. In 1745 some Parsis in Surat adopted the Iranian reckoning and became known as Kadmis, while the rest kept the Shahenshahi calendar. In 1906 a Bombay society published the Fasli calendar, which adds a leap day; in Iran many Zoroastrians took it up after a campaign in 1930, under the name Bastani.
Sources
How this site calculates the date: Shahenshahi reckoning, followed by most Parsis in India: 365-day years with no leap day, counted from Yazdegerd III (Y.Z.). The Kadmi and Fasli reckonings are shown alongside.