Beloved Khorshedji

The venerated fire temple of the Parsis, Dadysett Atash Behram near Chira Bazar, has a little animal farm with goats and pigs roaming their en­closures and occasionally sharing din­ner with the most honoured guest on the premises.

Khorshedji is a special albino bull that fire temples or Atash Behram have on the premises, especially for the use of gomutra or taro, which is sipped before weddings and Navjote ceremonies.

Brought in a few years ago by for­mer trustee Ratan Lalkaka, Khorshed­ji is a blue-blooded albino, certified not by a veterinarian, but a priest. “Its hooves are white too,” says Lalkaka. “In fact, after its birth, it is kept for two and a half years to see that it does not grow a single black hair. Only then is it sanc­tified, with the first ceremony lasting seven days, for four hours each.”

Shriram Vernekar- Times of India, Mumbai,12 April 2010