The tribute was organised by the Pakistan-Norway Association (PANA) on February 1, this year, with a buffet, a fruit drink and a lecture by a Central Asian expert on Khayyam and poet Prof. Aftab Kazi.
Quatrains from Khayyam’s poetry were performed by Opera singer Lynly Butt and the film on the life and times of Khayyam “The Keeper — The Legend of Khayyam” was screened. However, in Professor Kazi´s view “the directors and producers commercialise and distort the history.”
Read more about the event in The Express Tribune of February 3, 2014.
Yes, it was Swami Govinda Tirtha who calculated that it was 439AH, based on Omar’s astrological data. I think he worked backwards from Omar’s horoscope to calculate when the stars would have been in the correct alignment. I believe his calculations were published in The Nectar of Grace: Omar Khayyam’s Life and Works (Allahabad: 1941, pXXXII) but I haven’t examined that reference
That must have been an interesting meeting. We share Prof Kazi’s criticism of the film ‘The Keeper’ as regards authenticity and accuracy. But we are surprised by his suggestion that the date of Khayyam’s birth has been established as 1031 CE. The more generally accepted date is May 18th 1048, established we believe by Govinda Titrtha in the 1930’s. The latter date is much more consistent with the dates given for Khayyam’s death, generally thought to be in the period 1126-1131. Does anyone have more substantial evidence on this?