While working on my post about “Pestonjee Ka Ghoda”, I came across another fascinating layer of Kashmir’s history associated with the Parsee community.

Unfortunately, this colour of our rich heritage has almost completely faded from Kashmir today. Yet, its fragrance still remains, in the form of old buildings, graves, artefacts and other historical remains scattered across our land.

After locating Pestonjee’s famous white horse, I came to know that Bahram Pestonjee was buried in the Parsee Zoroastrian Aramgah in Srinagar. It took me quite some time to locate the place, as surprisingly, very few people seemed to know about it.

When we finally reached the spot, we discovered a beautiful and peaceful place, hidden within the Badami Bagh Cantonment of Srinagar. It was another small but important piece of Kashmir’s multicultural past, the Parsee Zoroastrian Aramgah.

The word Aramgah means a place of rest. This historic site has served as the final resting place of members of the small Parsi Zoroastrian community that once lived and worked in Kashmir.

The history of the Aramgah goes back to 1893, during the reign of Maharaja Pratap Singh. In that year, land was granted to the Parsi Zoroastrian community for establishing an Aramgah. The grant is an important reminder that, although small in number, the Parsi community had a recognised presence in the social and commercial life of Srinagar.

The Parsis were involved in trade and other professions, and some families became well known in Srinagar. One such name was Pestonjee, whose family became associated with the famous Pestonjee Building and Pestonjee’s White Horse on Residency Road.

The Aramgah has a modest building, locally described as a bungli, along with the cemetery and a garden area. The building was used for prayers and religious ceremonies connected with funerals. After the ceremonies, the deceased were laid to rest in the cemetery according to Zoroastrian traditions. There is also and vintage mechanical well in the campus.

The cemetery contains several old graves and gravestones. Among them is the grave of Bahram Pestonjee, a member of the Pestonjee family. Standing infront and seeing his grave made the story of Pestonjee’s White Horse feel much more real to me. The horse was not merely a forgotten landmark of Srinagar; behind it was the story of a family and a community that had once made Kashmir their home.

The story of the Aramgah is also, in many ways, a story of disappearance. The Parsi community in Kashmir gradually became smaller, and eventually there were no resident Parsis left in the Valley. The last known funeral at the Aramgah took place in 12 Nov 2005.

Today, the site remains largely unknown to the wider public. Hidden inside the cantonment, its old graves and modest structures quietly preserve the memory of Kashmir’s Parsi community.

During our visit, we were fortunate to meet Md. Shafi Meer Ji, the present caretaker of the Aramgah. He warmly showed us around the site and helped us see the small collection of artefacts and the gallery maintained inside the bungalow. His efforts in looking after this place deserve appreciation.

For me, the importance of the Parsee Zoroastrian Aramgah goes far beyond its cemetery walls. It reminds us that the history of Kashmir was never made by one community alone. Over the centuries, people of different faiths and backgrounds came to the Valley, lived here, worked here, contributed to its society and, in many cases, made Kashmir their final home.

The Aramgah is therefore not merely a cemetery. It is a monument to a forgotten chapter of Srinagar’s pluralistic past.

Perhaps the greatest challenge today is to ensure that such places are not forgotten simply because the communities associated with them have disappeared. Their stones, buildings, graves and artefacts continue to tell stories, and those stories are an important part of the larger history of Kashmir.

I would therefore make a humble appeal to members of the Parsi Zoroastrian community and all those concerned with Kashmir’s heritage to come forward and help preserve and restore the Aramgah, its old bungalow and the precious artefacts associated with the community.

These are not merely the belongings of a community that once lived here. They are part of Kashmir’s shared heritage.

If we allow such places to disappear from our cultural memory, we will not only lose old buildings and artefacts, we will lose a part of the story of Kashmir itself.

Special thanks to Sh. Ajay Sharma Ji and Md. Shafi Meer Ji for guiding us well to this heritage place.