For centuries, the ancient Armenians celebrated the New Year, Navasard, on August 11 (Navasard Areg by their calendar). It was the first day of the ancient Armenian calendar, and during it, Armenians rich and poor gathered together for a festival commemorating Hayk's victory over the titan Bel and establishing the first kingdom of Armenia in 2492 BC according to the Gregorian calendar. Navasard was dedicated to main 7 Armenian pagan gods: Aramazd (the Supreme Armenian God, the Father of all Gods and Goddesses), Anahit (Goddess of fertility, healing and wisdom), Astghik (the Goddess of beauty, love and water), Nane (Goddess of war), Vahagn (God thunder and lightning, slayer of dragons), Mihr (God light and the sun god) and Tir (God of wisdom, writing and science). It was said that on Navasard, the Gods descended to Earth and bathed in the river Aratsani. They observed their mortal subjects as they put on a festival and played competitive games.

See also: Armenian pagan culture

http://peopleofar.wordpress.com/tag/navasard/