Dehwa Rabba () or Nauruz Rabba (, 'Great New Year')
Kanshi u-Zahli
Kanshī u-Zahli or
Kanshiy u-Zahly (
) is the day preceding Dehwa Rabba, or New Year's Eve. It is the 30th day of Gadia, the twelfth month (i.e., the last day of the Mandaean year). On Kanshiy u-Zahly, Mandaeans do not work as it is a holy day. Mandaean priests spend the entire day performing prayers and
masbuta until the afternoon, and also animals are slaughtered for consumption. Before the sun sets, Mandaeans prepare food for the following day of Dehwa Rabba and also perform
ṭmasha, or ritual immersion in water that does not require the assistance of a priest.
36 hours of seclusion
At sunset, once the
North Star appears in the sky, Mandaeans must stay inside their homes with their families for 36 hours. No one is permitted to go outside their homes during these 36 hours, since Mandaeans believe that the
naṭria (guardian spirits, including the water guardians
Shilmai and
Nidbai) have left
Tibil and returned to the World of Light, leaving people on Tibil vulnerable to misfortune.
As a result, Mandaeans will emerge only at noontime on the 2nd day of Daula (the day following Dehwa Rabba).
Deaths during these 36 hours are considered to be inauspicious ( mbaṭṭal,
E. S. Drower has compared this period of isolation to the Babylonian festival Akitu and to the myth of Dumuzid's descent into the underworld and his subsequent ascent after three days.
See also
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