Cincy MultiFaith Calendar

Navroze / New Year (Parsi Zoroastrian)
2025-08-15
Weeks before Navroze, homes are given a cleaning and festive foods are prepared. The arrival of the new year is celebrated by prayers at the Fire temple (Atashbehram) followed by a special meal shared with family.
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Holiday Greeting: Navroze Mubarak
Children may miss school to celebrate with families

Feast of Asma / Names (Baha'i)
2025-08-19
Wherever they live, Baha’is gather every 19 days for what we call a Feast. This is a members-only event comprising three parts:
1. A spiritual portion that’s the time for prayer and reflection;
2. A business portion for consultation about administrative issues (plans for forming classes, organizing to perform community service, observing holy days, or any ideas or projects community members wish to discuss. It’s also a time when local members can ask their Local Assembly to forward their concerns to the National Assembly;
3. A social portion that can consist of anything from just glasses of water to a full-course dinner.

Khordad Sal (Parsi Zoroastrian)
2025-08-20
Birth anniversary of Zarathushtra (Zoroaster), the founder of Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrians gather in Fire temples for prayers and then celebrate with a family feast.
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Paryushan (Jain)
2025-08-21 - 2025-08-28
Paryushan is a time (period) for self-analysis and soul searching, for reflecting and contemplating on past conduct, in light of the teachings of Jainism and re-dedication to leading a spiritually cleaner life in the future. An important day is the last day of Paryushan (Shwetambar sect), or Saṃvatsarī (Sanskrit: संवत्सरी) (Forgiveness Day), when Jains forgive and seek forgiveness for their mistakes committed knowingly or unknowingly from all the living beings.
During this period, Jains would typically greet each other by saying “Michhami Dukkadam” which essentially signifies forgiveness (both forgiving and seeking forgiveness).
More information can be found here.
To connect with the Jain community in Cincinnati and Dayton visit this website.

Parkash of Guru Granth Sahib (Eternal Guru) (Sikh)
2025-09-01
This day celebrates Gobind Singh Ji’s passing on guruship to Scripture, henceforth known as the Guru Granth Sahib.
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Traditional Greeting: “Vadhaaiaa Ji” – Congratulations!

Feast of Izzat / Might (Baha'i)
2025-09-07

Paitishahem Gahambar (Zoroastrian)
2025-09-12 - 2025-09-16
Paitishahem (literally: bringing in the harvest) Gahambar is a harvest seasonal festival. It is considered a religious duty to participate in a communal jashan prayer ceremony; as well as, fraternize and share a simple meal with fellow co-religionists from all walks of life, rich and poor.
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GurGaddi of Guru Angad Sahib (2nd Guru) (Sikh)
2025-09-12
Guru Angad Dev Ji was originally a humble Sikh named Lehna. Upon meeting the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, his life transformed and he never left the Guru’s side serving the community for many years to follow. When the time came, Guru Nanak approached Lehna and said you have now become a part of me, Ang, and henceforth you shall carry on the Guru’s work as Angad. Guru Angad was responsible for establishing the script of the Guru, Gurmukhi, which is commonly known today as the Punjabi script.
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Holiday Greeting: “Vadhaaiaa Ji” – Congratulations!
Students and/Co-Workers may visit their local Gurdwara at some point during the day

Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Orthodox Christianity)
2025-09-14
The Feast of the Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross is celebrated each year on September 14. The Feast commemorates the finding of the True Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by Saint Helen, the mother of the Emperor Constantine.
You can learn more about this celebration here.

Autumn Equinox - Mabon (Pagan)
2025-09-22
Autumn Equinox or Mabon is celebrated September 21st or 22nd. This is second harvest and is the witches Thanksgiving. This is a time of appreciation, reflection, and preparation for winter.
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Navaratri (Hindu)
2025-09-22 - 2025-10-02
The festival literally means “nine nights” in Sanskrit and occurs over ten days and nine nights. It is celebrated differently in various parts of India with prayer, elaborate pandals (platforms), fasting, folk dances, displays of dolls, sharing of sweets, and bonfires. The festival celebrates the triumph of good over evil and the restoration of righteousness, accomplished through the victory of the Goddess Durga over the buffalo demon Mahishasura.
More information can be found here.

Erev (eve of) Rosh Hashanah (Jewish)
2025-09-22 18:00 - 23:59 (America/New_York)
This evening is the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. This holiday begins the period of the High Holy Days, which are widely observed by Jews around the world. It is both a time of rejoicing and of serious introspection, a time to celebrate the completion of another year while also taking stock of one’s life. Traditions include eating apples dipped in honey and blowing the shofar (ram’s horn). Most Jews attend synagogue on these two days and the preceding evening.
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Holiday Greeting: Shana Tova (Happy New Year) – AND – Shana Tova U’Mtukah (Have a happy and sweet New Year)
No dietary restrictions, but most students will miss school for this holiday. Commonly observed by synagogue attendance or family gatherings. Work is traditionally prohibited.

Rosh Hashanah (Jewish)
2025-09-23 - 2025-09-24
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. This holiday begins the period of the High Holy Days, which are widely observed by Jews around the world. It is both a time of rejoicing and of serious introspection, a time to celebrate the completion of another year while also taking stock of one’s life. Traditions include eating apples dipped in honey and blowing the shofar (ram’s horn). Most Jews attend synagogue on these two days and the preceding evening.
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Holiday Greeting: Shana Tova (Happy New Year) – AND – Shana Tova U’Mtukah (Have a happy and sweet New Year)
No dietary restrictions, but most students will miss school for this holiday. Commonly observed by synagogue attendance or family gatherings. Work is traditionally prohibited.

Feast of Mashiyyat / Will (Baha'i)
2025-09-26

Durga Puja (Vedanta)
2025-09-28 - 2025-10-02
Durga is one of the names of the Divine Mother — the power of Brahman Absolute.
Learn More:
https://www.vedanet.com/the-meaning-of-durga/

Yom Kippur (Jewish)
2025-10-01 19:00 - 2025-10-02 19:00
Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. The focus of this holiday is on contemplation repentance. Jews are taught that sins between people can only be atoned for after personal reconciliation. It is considered to be the holiest and most solemn day of the year. Fasting begins at sundown and ends after nightfall the following day. Most Jews attend synagogue on this day and the preceding evening. This holiday closes out the period of the High Holy Days.
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Holiday Greeting: G’mar chatimah tovah (May you be sealed in the Book of Life) – AND – tzom kal (easy fast)
Commonly observed by synagogue attendance or family gatherings. Individuals may be absent from school or work. Students will likely miss school for this holiday. Many who are 13 or older, will also likely be fasting. Work is traditionally prohibited.

Dussehra (Hindu)
2025-10-02
Dussehra (Vijaya Dashami, Dasara, or Dashain) is a Hindu festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil. It specifically commemorates when Lord Rama killed Ravana, as told in the Hindu epic Ramayana. It is a gazetted holiday in India, which is marked on the 10th and last day of Navratri, according to the Hindu calendar.
Celebrations can include burning effigies of Ravana, setting off fireworks, reenactments of segments of the Ramayana, or processions to bodies of water to dissolve clay images of deities.
More information can be found here.

Jashan-e Mihragan (Zoroastrian)
2025-10-02
This autumnal community celebration involves prayers of thanksgiving and blessings of the community.
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Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi (Catholic)
2025-10-04
Today, Catholics celebrate Francis of Assisi, who abandoned a life of luxury for a life devoted to Christian poverty, interreligious dialogue and peacemaking. He is the founder of an order of priests, and it is Francis who originated the practice of commemorating the birth of Jesus with the nativity scene. He is the patron saint of animals and the environment.
More Information can be found here.
Some catholic parishes celebrate this feast day with prayer services held outdoors and a special blessing of animals.

Sukkot (Jewish)
2025-10-06 - 2025-10-13
Sukkot is a seven-day festival marking the fall harvest in ancient Israel. This holiday is also a time in which Jews commemorate forty years of wandering in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. Celebrated by the building of a sukkah (or temporary dwelling) outdoors, where families and friends spend time throughout the holiday. Work is traditionally prohibited on the first and second days.
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Some students may miss school, the first and second day of the festival. Commonly observed by synagogue attendance or family gatherings. Work is traditionally prohibited.

Ayathrem Gahambar (Zoroastrian)
2025-10-12 - 2025-10-16
Ayathrem (literally: bring home the herds) Gahambar celebrates getting ready for winter. It is considered a religious duty to participate in a communal jashan prayer ceremony; as well as, fraternize and share a simple meal with fellow co-religionists from all walks of life, rich and poor.
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Shemini Atzeret (Jewish)
2025-10-13 - 2025-10-15
Coming at the conclusion of Sukkot are the two holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah . In Israel and among more liberal Jews they are combined into one holiday on the day after the conclusion of Sukkot . Among more traditional Jews outside of Israel, they are observed separately from one another on two consecutive days. Shemini Atzeret means the “Eighth Day of Assembly,” while Simchat Torah means “Rejoicing in Torah.”They mark the conclusion of the annual reading cycle of the Torah, the Five Books of Moses that make up the Jewish Bible. Jews celebrate the Torah by dancing and singing, followed by reading the last word of Deuteronomy and the first word of Genesis in one breath to represent the cyclical relationship between the Jewish People and Torah.
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There are no special customs or greetings for Shemini Atzeret, but there are additional prayers in the usual services on this day.

Indigenous People's Day
2025-10-14
In 1977 participants at the United Nations International Conference on Discrimination against Indigenous Populations in the Americas proposed that Indigenous Peoples’ Day replace Columbus Day. Indigenous Peoples’ Day recognizes that Native people are the first inhabitants of the Americas, including the lands that later became the United States of America. And it urges Americans to rethink history.
For More Information: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-american-indian/2020/10/12/indigenous-peoples-day-updated2020/

Simchat Torah (Jewish)
2025-10-14 19:00 - 2025-10-15 19:00
Coming at the conclusion of Sukkot are the two holidays of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah . In Israel and among more liberal Jews they are combined into one holiday on the day after the conclusion of Sukkot . Among more traditional Jews outside of Israel, they are observed separately from one another on two consecutive days. Shemini Atzeret means the “Eighth Day of Assembly,” while Simchat Torah means “Rejoicing in Torah.”They mark the conclusion of the annual reading cycle of the Torah, the Five Books of Moses that make up the Jewish Bible. Jews celebrate the Torah by dancing and singing, followed by reading the last word of Deuteronomy and the first word of Genesis in one breath to represent the cyclical relationship between the Jewish People and Torah.
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Feast of 'Ilm / Knowledge (Baha'i)
2025-10-15

Gurgaddi Sri Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh)
2025-10-20
Commemorating the transfer of Guruship from human form to the Word, Shabad. The installation of Guru Granth Sahib, the ultimate compilation containing the Guru’s wisdom, is celebrated with great joy. The last and eternal Guru for the Sikhs is Guru Granth Sahib. It is respected not like a book, but like a true King. All Sikhs bow before the Guru signifying their humility and asking for the blessings of the Divine Creator to grant them with Divine wisdom through the Guru.
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Holiday Greeting: “Vadhaaiaa Ji” – Congratulations!

Diwali (Hindu / Jain)
2025-10-20
One of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, Diwali symbolizes the spiritual “victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.” Light is a metaphor for knowledge and consciousness. During the celebration, temples, homes, shops and office buildings are brightly illuminated, often with rows (avali) of clay lamps (deepa), for which the festival is named. The preparations and observances typically last five days.
Diwali, also known as Deepawali or Mahavir Nirvana, is of special significance in Jainism, as it also marks the anniversary of Nirvana (final release or liberation) of Mahavir, the 24th and the last Jain Tirthankara. It is celebrated at the same time as the Hindu festival of Diwali or Deepawali.
More information about the Jain celebrations of this holiday can be found here.
More information about Hindu celebrations of this holiday can be found here.

Twin Holy Days (Bahá’í)
2025-10-22 - 2025-10-23
Commemorates the birth of The Bab, Herald of the Baha’i Faith & founder of the Babi Faith, in 1819.
Work is to be suspended and children excused from school.
More information:
https://www.bahaiblog.net/bahai-calendar/about-the-birth-of-the-bab/
Twin Holy Birthdays / Twin Manifestations of God

Jashan-e Abangan (Zoroastrian)
2025-10-26
Jashan-e Abangan is a celebration ceremony, a Jashan, performed on Avan day of Avan month, in
honor of Abangan or Avan, a Pehlavi name derived from the ancient Avestan term “Ardvi Sura”. Avan
means Water. Water, a life-giving element for all creation in our world, is highly revered by
Zoroastrians, and we consider it our religious duty to keep the world’s waters clean and pure, and never
do any such act that would defile the waters. Avan is associated with Khordad.

1984 Anti-Sikh Pogrom (Sikh)
2025-10-31 - 2025-11-04
Over the course of three days, 8,000 – 17,000 Sikhs were killed and about 50,000 were displaced after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed by her two Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984. Upon public knowledge of her death, Indian citizens (primarily Hindu nationalists) determinedly murdered, raped, burned, and tortured innocent Sikhs in more than 100 cities in 18 states across India. Government officials in Delhi handed out weapons and even fuel and ordered residents to attack and kill Sikhs. Even police and army personnel stepped aside letting mobs run wild beating and burning Sikhs alive in the streets. The Indian government has yet to recognize these events as state sanctioned killing and genocide. After decades of advocacy and pursuit of justice, one then member of the Indian government, Sajjan Kumar, was sentenced for his role in these crimes against humanity. These recent assaults on the community have shocked and greatly impacted the collective conscience.
More Information:
Publications
India: No Justice for 1984 Anti-Sikh Bloodshed

Students and/or Co-Workers may visit their local Gurdwara at some point during the day
