Author : Tanaz Karai, ZAGNY Youth
Good Life Essay
Parsis are Persian Zoroastrians who emigrated to India to avoid being persecuted by the Muslims. They fled from Iran and landed into Sanjan, Gujarat, India. The generous King Jadi Rana allowed Parsis to stay on his land with the condition that the Parsis adopt the local language, Gujarati, and the woman adopt the local dress, the Sari. Due to the fact that Parsis had to leave their motherland, they were made to create different customs, but were also able keep their original customs as well, which was the main reason that they fled Iran. Like other religions, Parsis have certain customs and rituals that make them unique. The different types of rituals and ceremonies range from when a person is in their mother’s womb to when they first learn to sit on our own to when they eventually depart from earth. Every Parsi at one point in their life will go through almost every ceremony there is in the Zoroastrian faith. It all starts with the moment that a child is conceived, that is where every story begins and that is where ours will begin as well.
During the fifth month of pregnancy, the Panchmasiyu ceremony is performed, in which the parents of the father-to-be gives the pregnant woman a set of new clothes. Special big Padas (sweets) are made for this occasion and given to the mother-to-be. Then the couple goes to the mother-to-be’s maternal house and her parents perform a similar ceremony. In present times, this ceremony is rarely being performed.
The Agarni ceremony is performed in the seventh or in some cases, the ninth month of pregnancy. This ceremony is performed only on a Thursday or Sunday. The pregnant woman receives a new set of clothes and a gold chain or bangles from her parents. Specially made agarni ladvo (cone-shaped mithai) is distributed among family members and friends. The agarni ceremony is performed by five or seven married Parsi ladies, who are mothers themselves. For the khoro bharvani ceremony, the mother-in-law of the pregnant woman makes her daughter sit on a chair and places a coconut, wheat seeds, bananas, pomegranate and the agharni ladvo (1 and 1/4th kg) in her sari pallav. A small ses with clothes, rice, kanku (red vermillion), flower garland along with seven small agharni ladvas are also kept near the mother-to-be during the ceremony. The mother-to-be is then taken to her maternal house, where the same ceremony is repeated and the seven ladvas are exchanged among the families.
In the olden days, the mother-to-be would go to her maternal house for her first delivery. After the agharni ceremony is done, she would go to her maternal house on an auspicious day and stay there till the baby was about five months old.
Now when the baby is born and on the sixth day after the birth, the Chatthi ceremony is observed. A batti is done and an entire set of new clothes for the baby are kept on a table, along with a white paper and a red pen. According to my grandmother, the Chatthi mai or Goddess of Destiny comes to write the destiny of the child on that day. My parents still have the white paper and red pen, on which the Goddess of Destiny has written my destiny.
In the past, women after childbirth were confined to a secluded room in the house for forty days along with the newborn. She was not allowed to touch anything made of wood or earth, to cook or be near the fire. After forty-one days, she had to take a nahn (ritual bath), before which a priest would come to the house and pray over the new mother with taro (consecrated bull’s urine) and pomegranate leaves. The new mother then took a bath and the priest prayed over her again. In present times, though new mothers don’t confine themselves to a secluded room, they do tend to get the nahn after forty-one days post-delivery. This is called the 40th Day Nahn Ceremony. After the nahn ceremony, the newborn is taken to the fire temple for the first time.
Long ago, when the baby is three months old, the baby’s paternal grandmother would come with some ladies to meet the grandchild, bringing with her the Vadhavo. This comprised of five to eleven sets of clothes for the baby, some gold jewelry, cash, bibs, feeding bottles and toys for the newborn.
When the mother returned with her newborn to her house from her maternal home, there was a ceremony called Zori Pori, which was performed. The maternal grandparents would give about five sets of clothes, cash, toys, silver cup or glass for the newborn baby.
Once the baby is about six months old and is able to sit on his/her own, the Besna ceremony is done. The child is made to sit on sweets called Padas which are placed on a small patlo (stool) and is given new clothes and gifts.
The Pag Laddoo ceremony is done when the child begins to walk on its own. A special ladoo is made with rice flour coating and sugary coconut sweet in the middle of it. There are two ladoos that are made in the shape of feet also.
A birthday ritual observed in many Parsi households is to make the birthday child bathe with milk, rose petals, rose water and rice. Then sagan would be done to the birthday child by making the child stand on patlo, where chalk has been put and a red tilo is done with his/her forehead and rice is stuck on it, he/she is made to wear a flower garland, and is given money and gifts and then ovarna is done with rice.
Between the ages of seven and eleven, a child is initiated into the religion through the Navjote ceremony. Navjote ceremony for girls is done between seven and nine years, as it has to be done before they reach puberty. For boys, the navjote can be performed between seven and eleven years. If the boy belongs to the Priest family, the navjote is usually done by nine years, after which he can go to the Madressa (wherein he gets training to become a priest) and become a Mobed.
In the Navjote ceremony, the child is given a white cotton shirt called the sudrah, which holds a small pocket over the child’s chest, known as the pocket of good deeds. This is said to hold all of the good things that the child does in their life. The child is also given a sacred cord called the kusti. Before the ceremony, the child takes a Nahan, which is a special bath. During the ceremony, the child recites prayers with a priest as a declaration of their faith. The child then put the kusti and sudrah on for the first time with the help of a priest. The child is then given blessings from the priest and then has a party in their honor.
Usually after a girl turns fourteen, she is made to wear a sari for the first time. This is said to be a rite of passage for girls to mark their transition into womanhood. Five married women help the girl put the sari on for the first time. They tie a small knot of rice, which is a symbol of fertility, in the corner of the pallu before sprinkling it with rose water.
One of the grandest series of ceremonies and rituals are during the parsi lagan or wedding. Weddings can be performed on any day of the week, except Wednesdays. The pre-wedding rituals begin with Rupiya Pehravanu, which is the unofficial engagement ceremony. Traditionally, the wedding ceremonies are for four days, the first day being the engagement or adhravanu. Rings are exchanged between the bride-to-be and the groom-to-be, amidst the presence of family members and friends. Then the madavsaro is performed, wherein a mango sapling is planted outside the door of the bride and groom’s house. These are done separately at both their houses. After the madav ceremony is performed, there are other small ceremonies like the supra ni reet, aragh vadherva ni reet, pori paththavani reet and the varni (couple of sets of clothes for the groom are taken to his house) are also performed. Then is the ceremony of divo adarni, in which the groom’s family members go to the bride’s house and gifts her jewelry and clothes. Finally, it is the wedding day, the day of a union, not only for the bride and groom, but a union of two families.
Both the bride and groom wear white as a sign of purity. Before the ceremony, they are made to take a Nahan. At the beginning of the ceremony, the bride and groom sit opposite each other and have a white cloth in between them. Their hands are tied together to symbolize unity. The priest starts to pray. Before the cloth is released, both the bride and groom are given a handful of rice. When the cloth is dropped, the first person to throw the rice is said to be the foremost in loving and respecting the other. After this part of the ceremony is performed, both the bride and groom are asked if they are entering into this marriage willingly or not. In some other religions, people are forced into arranged marriages and unfortunately have no way out of it. The Zoroastrian religion is one of the only religions that gives people the option to get out of a marriage if they wish to leave. The priest then continues to pray for the couple and ends the ceremony by blessing them and pronouncing them husband and wife.
When a person departs from this earth, there are certain death rituals and prayers that are performed to ensure the safe passage of the loved one. Whenever you hear the news of someone’s demise, you should pray one Ashem Vohu.
In terms of the death ritual, first, the body is washed and then put into clean, white clothing. A priest then prays before a fire until it is time to take the corpse to the Tower of Silence. At the Tower of Silence, the body is exposed to the sun and is put there to decompose. This is called the Paidast. The third day prayers are called the uthamanu and the fourth day prayers is called the charum. We don’t eat meat on the first three days, but we eat some kind of meat, like chicken or goat meat, on the fourth day. Traditionally, dhansakh is cooked with meat on that day. Then comes the dasmu, which is the 10th day ceremony and then the monthly prayers are called the masisu. The series of prayers usually ends on the varsi, which is the first death anniversary.
Many Parsis continue to honor and pray for the departed souls during the last ten days before the Parsi New Year. These are called the Mukhtad Days. They are reserved to remember the souls of our departed loved ones. The souls are given food, flowers and prayers are said in honor of the departed loved ones.
One important ceremony that is performed to celebrate or commemorate a joyous occasion or an important event is called the Jashan. There are two types of jashan – Zinderavan Jashan, which is performed on joyous occasions like moving into a new house, navjote, weddings, birthdays or gahambars and the Rawan Jashan, which is performed to commemorate death anniversaries of our departed souls and during muktad days.
As you can see, rituals and ceremonies play a big and essential part in the lives of Parsis. Each ritual and ceremony has its own importance and meaning. Each occasion provides us a reason to celebrate or honor a memory. Each is designed to remind us of our faith and our Zarthosti identity.
Bibliography:
Information taken from my maternal grandmother, Bapsy Eruch Wadia
Book: Ceremonies & Rituals of Parsi Marriages & Navjotes – Shubh Shadi Prasang na Parsi Reet Rivajo Author: Late Mrs. Perin Naval Hormusji Translator: Mrs. Sharda Deshmukh
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/children-i
http://www.avesta.org/ritual/rcc.htm
http://www.the-south-asian.com/april2001/Parsis-Ritual,Customs%20&%20Manners.htm
http://www.avesta.org/ritual/navjote.htm
http://tribune.com.pk/story/564832/wear-it-parsi-style-lady-gara/
http://www.avesta.org/ritual/zwedding.htm
http://www.culturalindia.net/weddings/regional-weddings/parsi-wedding.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsi
http://www.fravahr.org/spip.php?breve49
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jadi_Rana
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