The history and significance of the Bahá'í festival of Ridván.
Ridván
Last updated 2009-09-28
Ridván
Old picture of Bahá'u'lláh's house at Ridván ©
The Ridván Festival is celebrated from sunset 21 April to sunset 2 May.
The festival marks Bahá'u'lláh's time in the garden of Ridván in 1863 and his announcement that he was the prophet promised by the Báb. Bahá'u'lláh ordained this festival 'Most Great Festival'.
The celebrations
Gary Heise has described an example of a Ridván celebration:
One of my favorite experiences of a holy day celebration was the Ridván Festival I attended at the Evergreen Cabin at the Wilhelm Bahá'í Properties in Teaneck, New Jersey.
This twelve-day period (April 21 - May 2) celebrates the time in 1863 when Bahá'u'lláh proclaimed His Mission as God's Messenger for this age at a garden in Baghdad, that became known as the Garden of Ridván (Paradise).
At the particular celebration I attended, the walls and even the windows were draped in white muslin, to represent an outdoor canopy. All the chairs had been removed; people sat on the carpeted floor on cushions and pillows.
The scent of rose-water filled the air as children and youth read from first-hand accounts of the early Bahá'ís as they had experienced that historic day in 1863. To me, the children's reading and prayers were especially touching.
Gary Heise
The 1st, 9th and 12th days are especially holy days. They commemorate the arrival of Bahá'u'lláh at the Ridván Garden, the arrival of his family and his departure.
These three holy days are marked by communal prayers and celebrations, and are days on which no work is done.
Since Abdu'l-Bahá's time, Bahá'í elections have normally been held during Ridván. Local spiritual assemblies are elected on the first day of Ridván, while elections for national spiritual assemblies happen later in the festival.
The declaration of prophethood
Bahá'u'lláh's declaration that he was the prophet heralded by the Báb was not made public for over a year.
Bahá'u'lláh made the annoucement when he arrived in Ridván to Abdu'l-Bahá and four others, but told them to keep it a secret.
Bahá'u'lláh did not just announce that he was the prophet. He also said that there would be no other prophet for 1000 years, that his followers could not fight to protect or promote the Bahá'í faith and that "all the names of God were fully manifest in all things".
The last statement is taken by Bahá'ís to mean that the world had been mystically transformed and that there was now a new relationship between God and humanity.
The Ridván Garden
The Ridván Garden in Baghdad was originally named Najibiyyih. Bahá'u'lláh renamed it Ridván, which means Paradise.
Bahá'u'lláh had been exiled to Baghdad from Tehran in Persia in 1853, but in 1863 the authorities began to fear that he might be a focus for political unrest there. It was decided that Bahá'u'lláh would now be exiled to Istanbul.
So that his family and followers could prepare for the journey, Bahá'u'lláh left his house on 22 April 1863 and moved to the Najibiyyih Garden, where he proclaimed the Festival of Ridván. The festival begins 2 hours before sunset on 22 April, as that was the time he arrived in the Garden.
Bahá'u'lláh also had a garden called 'Ridván' outside Akka during the final part of his life.
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