Multi-Faith Festivals & The Twin Birthdays of the Bahá’i Faith
Dr. A. K. Merchant*
During this Festive Season one of the glad-tidings to humanity is the celebration of Twin Birthdays marking the fulfilment of prophecies of the advent of two Spiritual Luminaries for our Age. They are Founders of the Bahá’i Faith known by their titles--The Báb (1819-1850) and Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892). This year, as per the Bahá’i Calendar, the Twin Birthdays would be celebrated by the 8-million-strong worldwide Bahá’í community in November. Their divine mission of proclaiming the commencement of a new era of religious dispensation spanned all of 45 years from 1844 until 1892 with an interregnum of two years.
In His Book, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, described as the Charter of the new World Order, Bahá'u'lláh stated that in the sight of God, these two distinct birthdays are accounted as "one" festival. Even though The Báb and Bahá’u’lláh were born two years apart, they are called "twins" because of how their birthdays fall on the calendar: The Báb was born on 20th October 1819 (1st day according to the lunar and Bahá'u'lláh, born on 12th November 1817 (the 2nd day of the same lunar month). Because of this their birth anniversaries are celebrated back-to-back as a single, continuous 48-hour festive period.
As per the Bahá’i Calendar, a luni-solar calendar fashioned by The Báb and endorsed Bahá’u’lláh, the Twin Birthdays are celebrated on the first and second days following the eighth new moon after Naw-Rúz (the Baha'i New Year, which falls on the vernal equinox around March 21).
This year, 2026 coinciding with the 183rd Bahá’i Year, the global Bahá’i community is celebrating the festival on 10th and 11th November, immediately after Deepavali but before the Chhath Festival.
In terms of spiritual importance, the Twin Birthdays are ranked second only to the "Most Great Festivals" (the announcement of Their divine missions—21st April and 23rd May). Bahá’í days begin at sunset, the celebration bridges seamlessly from one day into the next. During this time, Bahá’ís around the world abstain from work, students take leave from school and colleges. Communities, families, and friends gather for public and private events featuring prayers, devotional readings from the scriptures, music, fellowship, and festive meals.
For millions of Bahá’ís and their friends across the globe, the Twin Birthdays festival represents a powerful reminder of unity, renewal, and the continuous guidance provided to humanity through Great Teachers, known by their religious appellations such as Avatars, Prophets, Messengers, Tathagatas, Tirthankaras. Each of Whom, in their own time and place, have helped civilization, as we know it, to march forward. When dharma aka religion, correctly understood and serves for the good of the people, it becomes the greatest of all means for the establishment of harmony and peace in the world.
However, when dharma aka religion is changed, perverted and manipulated for vested purposes, as is largely the situation today, it results in blind faith, spread of superstitions, prejudices, fanaticism in the society. At the same time the burden of traditions fall prey to market forces. Bereft of spirituality, the majority of the followers get trapped by the material things or busy with feasting and entertainment. The actual utterances of the Divine Educators, who taught the “The Golden Rule” that we should treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated and many other truths for the wellbeing of all are completely forgotten. Man-made political theories further perpetuate mistrust and divisions among sections of the populations.
No wonder, this strange situation when people in every country are crying out for peace and harmony, according to the teachings of the Bahá’i Faith are blocking the progress and prosperity of humankind. Selfishness, aggression and craving for material pleasures have come to be accepted as a natural trait of human beings. Humanity has two choices—either it continues to cling to its old ways of thinking and acting until the world reaches such a state that it completely destroys the civilization, or it can decide to come together in a spirit of unity and save the planet from the slough of complete extinction—who knows Artificial Intelligence (AI) might act as the trigger. The writing on the wall is clear for all to read.
To understand the significance of the Twin Birthdays, one must understand the relationship between the two figures. In the Baha'i view, the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh are inseparable co-founders of a single religious dispensation.
The Báb, whose title means "The Gate," burst onto the landscape of 19th-century Persia to announce that humanity stood on the threshold of a new era. His primary mission was to prepare the world for the imminent arrival of a universal Messenger of God who would usher in an age of global peace and justice. That promised figure was Bahá'u'lláh, whose name translates to "The Glory of God." Bahá'u'lláh’s subsequent teachings—emphasizing the oneness of God, the essential unity of all major religions, and the oneness of the human race—became the bedrock of the Bahá’i Faith.
By celebrating their births back-to-back, Bahá’ís honour the seamless transition of spiritual light from the Forerunner to the Promised One
The Twin Birthdays are part of the nine Holy Days of the year. There is no rigid, centralized ritual for observing the Holy Days; instead, observance reflects the vibrant diversity of the global community. Events are highly localized and creative, typically featuring. Members of the Faith along with friends meet in homes, local centres, or Houses of Worship to chant prayers and read selections from the Writings of both the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. Music, storytelling, poetry, and theatrical performances are often shared to recount the dramatic, heroic histories of the early days of the Faith. Joyous social gatherings bring together friends, neighbours, and families to share food, laughter, and hospitality. In alignment with the Bahá'i focus on community building, many groups use this festive season to engage in service projects, such as hosting children's classes, helping the vulnerable, or beautifying local neighbourhoods.
In the new World Order envisioned by the Twin Founders of the Bahá’i Faith religious fanaticism, prejudice, war, and unfair treatment of others on the basis of race, class, colour, creed, nationality, gender, and the degree of wealth or material possessions would be replaced by genuine camaraderie and human fellowship. The United Nations would be replaced by a world government collectively established by the federation of present-day nation states. This world authority would prevent conflicts and wars. There would be a world parliament, a world court of justice to settle disputes between countries. Trade barriers would disappear, the finite resources of the planet would be judiciously utilized for the betterment of the world, everyone would understand that capital and labour depend upon one another; there would be no scope for religious strife. This is not expressed as a pious wish or a utopian ideal. Bahá’ís believe that this is the only tangible future for all of humankind and it is inevitable. Millions of concerned citizens in every country are striving for hastening the dawn of the maturity of humanity. For, the ultimate goal for humankind is that all the peoples should unite in one human family. “The well-being of humankind,” Bahá’u’lláh asserted as the multitudes and large number of prominent personalities responded to this plea, “its peace and security are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.” “These fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great Peace’ shall come.
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*The writer is a social worker, independent researcher, & member of the Bahá’i Community of India. Views expressed are personal.