Mehrgan – The Persian Celebration for September Equinox
Mehrgan is one the four persian celebrations for equinoxes an solstices which have been alive for thousands of years. The main idea behind this event is to prepare a chance for students and teachers to join together from different countries and enjoy the combination of astronomy and culture. There is a celebration with music and dance and other cermonies, and participants also have a chance to share their own culture and also explain their own activities and projects.
The most beatiful point of this event is its relationship between astronomy and earth rotation and also the history and culture behind it. Equinoxes and solstice have always been very important events for persians through the history and it has been found by their calendar. When we first started to celebrate one of this events online and with other countries we just thought it is going to be a persian celebration.
However, the result and participation of many countries illustrated that there are many similar cultural event around the world that can be presented and we have not been familiar with them yet. So it gave a good opportunity to students to discuss their own culture to each other and look for similar roots and relationships.
This event was only started to discuss culture and astronomy at first. But after some experiences it ended up a chance for everyone to use it as time to include more important issues and topics such as environment and education. In addition, after organizing some events we also included extra scientific and practical projects for students so they have a chance to learn and use this as a tool for self improvement. And finally, as the event have been going on, the network of students and attendees have been increasing.