Homyar Nasirabadwala, one of the few full-time Parsi priests working outside India, talks about his community, traditions and making sure the dhansak is right Homyar Nasirabadwala has been in Hong Kong since 2009. Photo: Bhavya Dore In a small, air-conditioned room in Hong Kong’s busy Causeway Bay area, behind a framed, larger-than-life portrait of Parsi merchant Jamsetji Jeejeebhoy, there is
Read moreThe first Parsi Fire Temple in Kolkata. Now abandoned and in ruins, structurally weak too. Needs a renovation & a reuse plan. Will the Rustomji Cowasjee Banaji Fire Temple ever be restored?
Read moreDear Fellow Zarthostis, The structure of the New Bombay Agiary along with quarters for two Mobeds and 2 community Halls are ready and part occupancy has been obtained from the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation. The two community Halls are planned similar to the Sethna ni Agiary Halls ( where the Main function takes place on the First Floor and the
Read moreCome August 17 and the Parsi community in the city will gather at the 170-year-old Fire Temple in Secunderabad to celebrate New Year. The majestic structure standing tall on MG Road was built in 1847 and is spread over 11,000 square yards. Recognised as a heritage structure by the erstwhile Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda), the Fire Temple has a unique architecture resembling the
Read moreFrom the exterior, the Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Agiary looks anything but 173 years old or remotely as ostentatious as the life of the person this agiary or fire temple is named after. Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, a Parsi, was in more ways than one a parallel to another settler in Pune and Mumbai, the maverick Baghdadi Jewish businessman David Sassoon. Both of them were honoured by the
Read moreIn an unprecedented move to help Amdavadis better understand the culture and religion that is Zoroastrianism, the Parsi Panchayat in the city opened the doors of the Vakil Adariyan Agiyari to observe and quench the curiosity of those who will never set foot inside the religious halls of the Parsis. Non-Parsis are not allowed inside an Agiyari. However, since renovations
Read more‘Lhotse’, Air lndia’s Boeing 707 began taxiing on the tarmac and as the big aeroplane lost touch with the ground and became airborne, chants of Yatha Ahu Vairyo rent the aircraft. For, this was a very special journey, on a very special mission. Flying on board the chartered plane was a very, very special and important entity – Atash-e-Adaran.
Read moreAn aura of antiquity envelopes the coastal town of Udvada in Gujarat, which houses the holiest fire of the Parsis Faith accompli: A Parsi woman comes out of the fire temple Udvada is a pretty small heritage town with lanes and bylanes lined with traditional Parsi row houses, made of teakwood and bricks. The laidback coastal town in Gujarat houses
Read moreFriends, (please share this with your local community and friends) My great-grandfather, Khanbahadur Seth Pestonji Sorabji Bhujwalla, who served as the Personal Aide to the then Maharaja Khengarji Rao of Kutch, India, had a Daremeher and Aramgah (burial ground) built in 1905, and inaugurated on May 19, in the city of Bhuj (in northwest India) in memory of his father
Read moreThe fire temple was built in the 18th century when Parsi traders settled in Kozhikode about 200 years ago. KOZHIKODE: On April 18 which is observed as World Heritage Day, among the several monuments with a story to tell in Kozhikode is its only Parsi temple in Kerala. The local people are not well aware of this fire temple, the Parsi
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