Baha’is to celebrate 200th birth anniversary of Baha’u’llah next month

Dear Editor,
Baha’is from every country around the world, including Guyana, are busy making plans for the October celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Baha’u’llah, the prophet founder of the Baha’i faith.
On 21-22 October, Baha’is around the world will commemorate two holy days, which are both unique in the Baha’i calendar and are of immense significance in human history. These holy days mark respectively the births of the two most important luminaries of the Baha’i Faith, the Birth of the Bab (meaning the Gate) and the Birth of Baha’u’llah (meaning the Glory of God). This year’s celebration observes the bicentennial of the birth of Baha’u’llah; and in 2019, the bicentennial of the birth of the Bab.
The significance of these holy days has to do with the Baha’i understanding of the extraordinary lives and teachings of Baha’u’llah and the Bab. Those two Manifestations of God appeared on the horizon of human history in the nineteenth century, bearing a message for humankind, announcing a new era in our collective history on this planet.
To many, their names are as yet unfamiliar, but the writings of Baha’u’llah and the Bab describe a period of transition in our history, which has overtaken humanity these past two centuries, and is currently undergoing rapid acceleration. That transition, however painful and promising by degrees, is leading to an age of collective maturity for the human race. It will be characterised by our essential oneness in a pattern of global unity. To the extent humankind comes together, civilisation will move resolutely forward towards the peace, justice, and prosperity that have been the dream of seers and poets, prophets and philosophers throughout the past ages, and myriad cultures and communities that comprise our shared history.
Embracing ideals that combine service and worship, Baha’is are engaged in a worldwide effort at community-building that, with no sectarian or congregational aspiration, aims to contribute to a pattern of collective life on earth that is informed by the uplifting teachings of Baha’u’llah and the Bab – teachings that reinforce and amplify the teachings of all the world’s great religions.

Baha’u’llah, the Prophet founder of the Baha’i Faith, was born in 1817 in Tehran, Iran. The births of Baha’u’llah, and his predecessor, the Bab, are considered as sacred days in the Baha’i Faith.
More than five million Baha’is will observe the bicentennial celebrations this year in about 100,000 localities around the world. They will be open to people from all communities and systems of beliefs.

Yours faithfully,
Rooplall Dudhnath