Nineteen-Day Fast begins

For the Baháʼí New Year, the Nineteen Day Fast is a sunrise to sunset fast, and prayer, period. It is the greatest of the obligations in the Bahá’I faith, its purpose being to bring the adherent closer to God and reinvigorate the soul. The nineteen days of fasting occurs immediately before the beginning of the new year in the Baháʼí faith. The fast was instituted by the Bab, who founded the Baháʼi religion.