Zoroastrianism- a living religion.

Zoroastrian priest, in all white, before a sacred fire, the small lamp at the right over a copper vessel of water is symbolic of the elements of nature, fire, water and minerals(the copper vessel.) Fire is placed-enthroned-in an inner room, the sanctum, where only an ordained priest (in above picture,) who has undergone further purification rituals, can enter. The required purification ritual is rich in symbolism, where the priest has, by the ritual, elevated his spiritual status, has renounced the world, and 'entered' the divine realm where he can serve the sacred fire, pure emblem of Ahura Mazda-God, Lord Wisdom.)

The sacred temple building where the oldest and most revered Fire, "Iranshah"-(so called, "King of Iran," symbolically a "replacement", in Zoroastrian tradition, of the old kings of Sasanian Iran,) though strictly considered a symbol of God's Light and Purity before which God is worshipped. The name Iranshah is to remind the faithful of the lost Sasanian Persian Empire.

Zoroastrian priest praying before the sacred fire, placed in consecrated temples, and kept perpetually burning by constant feeding of wood, preferably sandalwood-see tray on the left. The priest wears all white, symbol of purity. His face is covered by a "padum" a cloths piece that ensures his breath does not reach the flame. Zoroastrians are not fire worshipers, the fire is an icon, a sacred symbol of pure light, from God, Ahura Mazda, Lord Wisdom. (pic. courtesy IAHmuseum website.)

[To those not very familiar with blogs, one word of advice. In blogs, the posts run in reverse order; chronologically, the current post is placed first, the first/earliest post is at the bottom, (see the Archives on the left). It is necessary to point this because, as far as this blog is concerned, the contents will be better understood by reading the 'end' post first (which is the first/earliest post!), then read the next post above the post read; please read in 'reverse' order-the 1st post is of December 2009:Zoroastrianism, Zarathustra, Zoroastrians, Parsis.-see Blog Archives on the left.]




For its meager numbers- around 70,000 Parsi Zoroastrians, in India and around 50,000 scattered, mainly in the English speaking world, then some 35,000 to 60,000
Iranian Zoroastrians, in Iran and including a diaspora in the same English speaking regions- in spite of these small numbers, the religion is nonetheless a dynamic living religion.


Zoroastrians are not fettered with narrow dogmas; there are, for example, no religious restrictions on food-(the orthodox will not eat beef, as the result of one of the promises given to the reigning king in Gujarat, when their ancestors, migrants, landed there in the tenth century A.D., and some are vegetarians by choice, and as a mark of orthodoxy). There are no strictures on how often the faithful are expected to visit a temple, or even on the dress code for the lay, the priests do have a dress, all white, see picture above.

The laity are expected to dress white when visiting a Fire Temple, but in these modern times it is accepted each individual decides on what to wear, on the basis of a modest dress sense when in a sacred place. (Naturally, there are uncomfortable situations when a "jet age" lady turns up dressed scantily, disapproving glances from an older generation, but no one will ask the lady to leave.)

Recently, some temples in Mumbai have put up, at the temple entrance, simple guidelines on the minimum requirements for entry, head covered, modest dress, performing ablutions and saying the short kusti prayer before setting foot into the sacred precinct. But some ruefully realize these are the signs of sad times, when simple instructions, that once came naturally, are to be put up as education.

But Zoroastrian religious practices are richly complex and vibrant with symbolism, and the priestly class, of High Priests-Dasturs, and below these the Ervads-ordained priests, with a very high degree of training from a young age, includes memorization of several texts- a suitably higher trained priest can recite a whole text, from memory, stretching into several hours! Besides, every ritual and act of worship have certain symbolism attached to these, which are enacted by certain gestures, like the clasping of hands during a ritual ceremony, or the ringing of the temple bell at the change of the daily five sections of the day; or the use of a sacred fire burning on a base placed on a metal vase, with wood, flowers, fruits, water, metal vessels representing the natural elements.

Admittedly, some of the very important rituals, like the consecration of a new temple, or the enthronement of a sacred fire require a wealthy sponsor, or collective contributions by the "Anjuman" -the whole community.

How complex these religious practices are, and the symbolism that goes with these, can be seen from a study of the gradation and treatment of a consecrated fire.

Fire is a sacred element, the creation of Dadar(Creator) Ahura Mazda, resplendent and symbol of light and purity that fills the entire Universe. A consecrated Fire is never allowed to go out, perpetually fed with wood through the the day and night, at the appointed five times of the day, or when sandalwood and wood is offered by the faithful.

There are three grades of fire, the highest grade is the Atash Vaharan, now called an Atash Bahram, (Fire of Victory-Vahran Yazata, now known as Bahram Yazad-Angel of Victory (of good over evil.) When Persia was a Zoroastrian state, this sacred Fire was symbol of the king's kingly glory, and a new fire was kindled with the enthronement of a new king.

There are eight Atash Bahram Fires in India and one in Iran. (see picture, above, of the grand but simple temple structure where the oldest and most revered Atash Bahram in India is housed, at Udvada, a small coastal pilgrim town, some 180 kilometers north of Mumbai. This fire was kindled in the tenth century A.D., by some accounts, but the priestly record shows this was done in the eight century A.D. All consecrated fires are never allowed to go out!)

Fire is a sacred element, God's primal creation, and so, it's use, by humans, for common everyday purposes is considered a debasement of the sacred element, and this is atoned for by enthronement of a sacred fire, by following a very elaborate ritual:

In the case of the Atash Behram Fire, sixteen fires from various sources, detailed below, are collected; the first is a fire from lightening(!), fire from the heavens.

Wherever Zoroastrians felt they should have in their midst this Fire of the highest grade, the villagers and town folk of the region were asked to look out for a lightening strike that left a tree, or some of its branches, ignited and at least left with glowing burning embers; these burning embers should be expeditiously transported and handed over to waiting priests. This, the finding of burning embers from a lightening strike, would sometimes take several months or even years, and without this fire the process of consecration could not be commenced!

The other fifteen fires are 'collected' from various trades and professions (potter, smith, brick kiln, coppersmith, goldsmith, iron works, baker, shepherd, etc etc, even some embers from burning wood from cremation of the dead, by the neighboring Hindus; and from the fire maintained in a priest's home and from the house of a leader of the community.)

Symbolically, fire has been used and defiled, for worldly uses, thus "debased' from it's pure state, requiring it be 'returned' to God in a regenerated purified state. This reflects the basic Zoroastrian belief in the final regeneration and renovation of the Universe.

All sixteen fires are put through elaborate filtered cleansing lasting over several days, and accompanied by loud intonement of certain texts from the scriptures, the process symbolizing renovation of this sacred element.

(Each fire is 'filtered' by holding a metal ladle filled with wood over that fire, igniting the new wood. This process is repeated a set number of times for each fire; for example, the burning embers-from a funeral pyre, is 'filtered,' with intoning of set prayers, for 91 times! Fires from professions are filtered between 60 to 80 times. Accompanying prayer texts include the Yasna prayers, each recital of which lasts from an hour to two!

This means, taking averages, 16 fires are put through a purification process of average 70 times, by 16, resulting in a total of 1120 purification rituals, with an hour long prayer-a total of 1120 hours.)

When this process, of ritual cleansing of each fire, is completed, the sixteen purified fires are brought together. This 'amalgamation' of 16 fires, now in a purified state, is honored by more rituals, reciting of ancient Avestan prayers.

When this whole ritual, vibrant with symbolism of purifying God's most sacred element, is completed, the fire, now considered consecrated, is ceremoniously installed in the sanctum sanctorum, an inner room in the temple, where only an ordained priest can enter. The laity offer wood to the attending priest from a door in an outer room that surrounds the sanctum, through which door only the priest can enter the most sacred room, called the 'Kebla.' (throne room-sanctum.) A priest trained as Martab, up to the level where he is designated a Dastur, who is allowed to preside over high rituals, is fit to enter the sanctum of an Atash Bahram.

Two more grades of fire make up a total of three sacred consecrated fires-

the second grade of fire is called the Adaran Fire, simply meaning Fire in a temple; but is dedicated to Mithra Yazata-now called Meher Yazad, the ancient Lord of Contracts, an angelic being who accompanies the sun across the sky, has a thousand eyes and ears which record the doings of all men, and punish those who break their word- a broken promise, amounting to a Lie, is a serious sin and breach of truth. The Adaran fire is enthroned in a temple known as Dab-i Meher- the house of Meher Yazad. (see above, the first grade of fire, dedicated to Bahram Yazad, angel of Victory, is enthroned in an Atash Bahram -House of Bahram Yazad.)

This fire, of the second grade, is consecrated from 4 fires, the first from the house of a priest, then, from the house of a Zoroastrian military man or someone in authority, the third fire from the house hold fire of a  Zoroastrian agriculturist, and last from the house of a tradesperson, artisan or smithy.

The practice of keeping a fire kindled in every Zoroastrian home, at least this was possible and practical up to the early part of the last century, required that the hearth fire, used for keeping warm and for cooking in the kitchen, was used to light sandalwood and incense in a censer, every morning and evening. This simple fire, in a censer, was carried around the house to 'purify' the atmosphere, and then placed before the house shrine where the pious would say their daily prayers.

The third grade of Fire, called simply the Atash Dadgah, meaning Fire in a place of worship, is made by a simple consecration of a household fire, installed in a temple known as the Dadgah, House of Fire.

There are ceremonies and rituals for all occasions in life, from the time a Zoroastrian is born, then for initiation as a formal Zoroastrian, called the Navjote, at an age of consent (between age of 7 and 11 years,), ........and rituals for marraige, and other religious occasions, and when he departs the world.

Apart from the Navjote, formal entry into the Zoroastrian creed by both boys and girls, the priestly class have two additional, very elaborate rituals, initiations into the priesthood.

The Navjote ceremony involves a ritualistic bath, officiated by a priest, where the incumbent is also made to sip a drop, at least, of consecrated bull's urine (do not be petrified, most modern researchers agree on the therapeutic use of urine.)

(This consecration of bulls urine is in itself a highly elaborate high ritual, called the Nirang-Din. The urine, drawn from a fully pure white bull kept in the outer premises of the Atash Bahram, is drawn and placed in a metal vessel, and kept besides a blazing fire used for this ritual, this ceremony takes around 12 hours.

Two priests, positioned on either side of the vessel and the urn of blazing fire, recite Avesta texts, in loud sonorous tones, the ritual lasting for around 12 hours, through the night, also symbolizing a night long battle against all evil (!).

At the end of this long ceremony, the purified urine, now called Gomez, is stored in bottles. Used for "purifying" the body of the recipient, by placing a few drops on the tongue, after a ritual bath- this is so used before the Navjote ceremony, as well as for various rituals by priests- before their initiation into priesthood, and other priestly functions requiring a state of heightened purity, like entry into the sanctum to tend a sacred fire.)

Above pic.: Zoroastrian priest in readiness to perform a religious ritual; in the case of higher ceremonies two or more priests are involved. In the case of consecration of bull's urine, the metal vessel containing the bull's urine is placed next to the urn of fire- a much larger urn with a bigger blazing fire than the one shown here, is used in these ceremonies that involve more significance.

To continue, in the Navjote ceremony, after the ritual bath and application of consecrated bull's urine, the incumbent, accompanied by the priest, and followed by members of the family, is led to a decorated platform (symbolizing a place of joy and purity with the use of a large number of floral motifs).

Above picture, a Navjote ceremony, initiation of a child into the Zoroastrian fold, see text below.

Here, a High Priest (or a senior Dastur) blesses the child, and with the intoning of sacred texts, slips a sudreh, the sacred thin linen shirt over the child's shoulders-the first sudreh of his life;

then, reciting more sacred texts, the High Priest ceremoniously ties the sacred girdle, the kusti, made of 72 strands of pure wool -(symbolizing the 72 chapters of the most ancient Avestan texts-the Yasnas.) The kusti, of 72 strands, is in fact a slim thin piece of woolen girdle, a work of high craftsmanship, that can only be crafted by a lady from the priestly class.

Thus initiated into the Zoroastrian faith, the child is taken the first time as a "full" Zoroastrian to a Fire Temple; after this, music and merriment continue, with the invited guests treated to sumptuous gourmet food!

Thus Zoroastrianism is enormously rich in rituals, symbolism, ceremonies and festivals, and yet, the 'casual' follower, at one end of the spectrum, or the pious orthodox, whose numbers are fewer, is not encumbered, and there are no strictures in "the keeping of the faith." Non compliance do not lead to any serious action, like an excommunication. An orthodox may look askance at the religious attitudes of the liberal, but there is nothing in the "canons" of the faith that make it compulsory to attend "every Sunday service at the church!"

A Zoroastrian is required to carry out the very minimum obligations required of his faith, the constant daily wearing of emblems of the faith, the sacred shirt, the sudreh, made from thin linen, a fresh washed piece after his daily bath, and the sacred girdle, the kusti, around his/her waist. (More about these symbols later.) But no one is excommunicated for not wearing these; the individual follows the voice of his conscience, that decides. Of course, it saddens the pious, and digressions from the practices of the faith are much debated in the community.

A good example, an orthodox will ensure he follows all the strict rules, "tarikats," of absolute cleansing and ablutions, and say the correct required set of prayers, whilst on a visit to the sacred Fire Temple; the unorthodox, on the other hand, by the minimum perfunctory requirement of covering the head, and, perhaps, a scant sprinkling of water on the tips of his fingers, suffices to 'allow' entry in the sacred portals of the temple.

Somewhere the lines are drawn; a follower will most definitely be asked to leave the temple, if found, he or she refusing to cover the head, or is somehow caught without the sudreh and kusti, under his or her attire! But no hue and cry, no excommunication in this, the most pacifist of all peoples.

Thus, it seems the inheritant strength of this ancient faith is not just the abundance of religious practices, rituals and ceremonies, but the generous gathering in, of the whole community.

Unfortunately, a very serious and widening chasm has been growing in the community, that is "tearing up the very fabric" that held this broad minded people together.

The religion forbids conversion and intermarriage with members of other faiths, and the offspring of these unions cannot be accepted into the faith; at least, so claim one significant segment of the faithful, on the basis of their interpretation of religions scriptures. They have labelled themselves 'Traditionals.' Those who assert Zoroastrianism is an universal religion and there is nothing in the scriptures that forbid conversion or intermarraige are now termed "reformists"- often derided as "deformists."

Both groups are very convinced of their stand, and heated arguments ensue, with one group boycotting the other; but there is no debarring the 'reformist liberal' from entering the temple, and a person with a spouse from another faith has the generous acquiescence to continue entry to temples or take part in religious obligations, but his/her spouse or offspring cannot!

Up to the middle of the last century, there was a general consensus, atleast in some groups of the community, allowing children, of a Zoroastrian father married to a non-Zoroastrian, into the faith; but the High Priests and orthodox leaders of the faith have now asserted that intermarriages are forbidden and the spouse and children, without exception, cannot be accepted into the faith, and are debarred from entry into a temple, and cannot participate in rituals and ceremonies, especially those rituals where a priest officiates; but this rule does not apply to marriage and navjote (initiation into the fold) ceremonies, as long as these are performed outside a temple.

Although Iranian Zoroastrians who are migrating to India from the early part of the last century, and are accepted with Zoroastrian Parsis as one community, follow th, same practices as the latter, it seems the Zoroastrians in Iran, at least some of them, accept non Zoroastrians into the fold. Conversions to the religion are being reported from Russia, Ukraine, the previous Soviet Republics of Central Asia, initiation into the religion carried out by Iranain Zoroastrian priests.

In Tajikistan and other Central Asian republics, some people claim Zoroastrianism as their ancestral religion, that with the all pervading presence of Islam, or later, Communism, they followed their ancestral Zoroastrian faith behind closed doors, and they now desire to 'reenter' their ancient faith through formal conversion.

A few Iranian based priests are reported to be actively involved in performing Navjotes in those countries.

There is support expressed for these conversions by the "reformist" groups within Parsi Zoroastrians, but the formal religious stand by High Priests in India, and the larger part of the Zoroastrian community in India and abroad have made their position very clear-no conversions, and no accepting non Zoroastrain spouses and their children into the fold.

Another very contentious issue, that is generating heated debates between the orthodox and reformists, is whether the practice of disposal of the dead by the method of 'dokhmaneshini' -disposal of the dead through exposure to the sun and the flesh eaten by carrion birds-should continue.

The system of Dokhmaneshini firstly involves construction of large circular stone towers, the Dokhma, open to the sky, around twenty feet high, but at least a 100 feet in circumference, with a raised platform within, (but not visible from the outside.) This circular platform has three circular rows of very shallow pits with a deep central pit in the middle.

The body is placed on one of the shallow pits on the platform, exposed to the rays of the sun, and carrion, mainly vultures, devour the flesh. The skeleton remains are then deposited into the central pit. Regularly, ample amount of chalk is sprinkled into the central deep pit, to 'sanitise' the bones and make the skeletons as brittle as possible.

When the central pit fills up with skeletons, these are piously removed and buried in deep burials outside the tower; the burial pits are again liberally sprinkled with lime and chalk before closing these.

The controversies and the ensuing debates began when the vulture population in India began to go extinct.

Devouring dead cattle, in India, became 'poison' for these vultures, as cattle are treated for certain diseases with diflonec. This chemical, taken into their system on eating dead cattle has the rapid side effect on the vultures of severe sterility , thus a very rapid decline in their population.

With no vultures to devour the dead bodies in the tower, the reformists claim, the bodies are rotting, and the whole purpose of a quick natural disposal of the dead is defeated.

The orthodox counter that the body is still subjected to the rays of the sun, and the religious injunction of sun exposure is fulfilled. Besides, the orthodox claim, disposal of the body in the tower fulfills the talismanic function of ensuring the soul goes into the divine sphere for it's judgement before God's angels.

So there is no meeting ground between the orthodox traditionals and the reformists, and the former castigate the latter for using burial in the ground or cremation, that the soul of such person, not placed in the consecrated tower, is lost and wanders around, bound to the earthy sphere.

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Unlike the major religions of the world, with their huge numbers, and inspite of the several schisms and sects within each religion, almost all these have a central heirachy, like the Roman Catholic Papal Vatican, with its huge organization spread across the world. Zoroastrians, Parsis or Iranian, with their small numbers, had to invent themselves by forging close knit community relationships which include a loose but cohesive framework of religious and secular institutions that compliment one another, and help the community get on with their affairs.

Wherever Zoroastrians have migrated across the world, they have set up federations representing their interests in the city or country/continent where they reside; more than just meeting ground for the community, these serve very varied interests, with no set pattern, the activities of each depend on the vision of it's governing body. Besides, meeting and socializing with one another, and sponsorship of one or the many festivals and religious rituals, many actively publish material for dissemination of religious knowledge, and represent the community for their problems to the local or country level governments.

In India, for example, Parsis and the smaller numbers of Iranis, centered mainly in Mumbai and the western coastal towns north of Mumbai, have secular and religious institutions that loosely govern the affairs of the community and represent the community in some way or other. In most major centers, the institution, known by the Indian term "Punchayet," (meaning governing body of five individuals) with the result of ample funds, land and properties donated by the better wealthy sections of the community, have been entrusted with the management of vast holdings and properties, for community housing, hospitals, schools, temples, and land for disposal of the dead.

In Mumbai, the Bombay Parsi Punchayat, a body established in the early part of the eighteenth century, now governed by statutes of the Indian state relating to charities and organizations for non-profit purposes, nevertheless, in varying degree, looks after the affairs of the community and is custodian of the vast properties held in trust-temples, schools, hospitals, grounds for disposal of the dead etc.