Culture: Religion

Religion

By ADVAITH MANHOLI


The Parsis, who immigrated to India from Persia (modern-day Iran), practice Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism was founded by the prophet Zoroaster in ancient Persia around the 6th century BCE. It is one of the world's oldest monolithic religions. Monolithic religions are those religions which have unified core beliefs, in the case of Zoroastrianism, it is unified in the beliefs of Ahura Mazda. Zoroastrianism revolves around the key concept of the cosmic struggle that occurs between Good and Evil, and humans are encouraged to choose good over evil as it aligns with being self-right Ahura Mazda (Nusservanji, 1938). 


These beliefs may be the catalyst for many Parsi entrepreneurs to be people who are inclined towards societal welfare. When the Parsis arrived in Gujarat, the Parsi leaders met with the local king, Jadhav Rana in order to get permission to settle in his kingdom. In order to gain acceptance, they agreed to adopt some of the local customs and speak the local language while maintaining peace. They did this while keeping their religious practices intact. This helped them blend into the local society without compromising their Zoroastrian faith. The Parsis' promise to be peaceful and industrious allowed them to practice their religion freely, unlike the persecution they faced in Persia (Mary, 2001). Despite achieving the aforementioned, the Parsis faced the challenge of maintaining their religious purity and identity. Ritual purity is a very important aspect of Zoroastrianism, especially the cases concerning fire, water, and earth. In order to maintain this purity, they had to follow through a special burial practice which traditionally involved the Dakhma, which is a sort of tower used for exposing the dead. Due to its rather morbid nature, it was hard to find places and people who were willing to accept this (John R, 2005).



The small size of the Parsi community, did not help in maintaining purity laws as it was very hard to sustain religious education and ensuring that their community did not assimilate into the broader Hindu or Muslim society. This happened because in order to maintain purity Endogamy was practiced within the Parsi community. This strict adherence to purity laws lead to development of tensions between the families of the Parsi community and between the elders and younger generations. The refusal of the Parsis to marry Hindus and Muslims also caused them to be victims of social isolation (Eckehard, 1978). The fire temples were the Parsis centers of worship. They faced significant challenges while trying to establish these fire temples as it required a lot of capital, land, labor and societal acceptance (Mary, 1977).



All of these efforts by the Parsis paid out as in modern India, they still continue to practice Zoroastrianism. But this doesn't mean it's a smooth sailing as they are facing significant challenges in the form of rapidly declining population due to low birth rates, strict endogamy, and late marriages. While they enjoy full religious freedom and have contributed significantly to Indian society, internal debates persist regarding reforms in religious practices, such as the inclusion of interfaith marriages. Also, the maintenance of fire temples and traditional rituals like funerary practices also pose difficulties in urban settings (John, 2005). Despite these challenges, the community remains economically and socially successful. All in all, even though the Zoroastrians faced challenges upon migrating to India, they managed to overcome all these challenges to make India their home.








Citations


Dhalla, Maneckji Nusservanji. History of Zoroastrianism. Oxford University Press, 1938.


(Boyce, Mary. "Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices". Routledge, 2001).


(Hinnells, John R. "The Zoroastrian Diaspora: Religion and Migration". Oxford University Press, 2005).


(Kulke, Eckehard. "The Parsees in India: A Minority as Agent of Social Change". Vikas Publishing House, 1978).


(Boyce, Mary. "A Persian Stronghold of Zoroastrianism". Oxford University Press, 1977).

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