The announcement of a Navjote ceremony of a child born to Hindu father and Parsi mother in Nagpur, has sparked a...
Issues Articles
Mumbai’s Parsi sahibs have an inconvenient secret—tribal cousins in distant Gujarat villages
There’s a subtle caste system in place. Most Mumbai Parsis don’t want to discuss their tribal brethren. Priests refuse...
Overhaul Parsi Matrimonial Law
Phiroze Khan, 87, our friend and insurance agent for many decades is a remarkable gentleman. A loyal employee of Bombay Dyeing for many years, he worked really hard as an insurance agent to bring up...
Parsis petition Centre for survival
The Parsis are a demographically declining community on the cusp of near extinction. This is what Keki Daruwalla, Sahitya Akademi award-winning poet and a member of the National Commission for...
The Promise Of A New Day: World Zoroastrian Organisation Trust
Since the 1990s, The World Zoroastrian Organisation Trust, based in India, has been working in the villages of Gujarat, specifically in the villages of Navsari and Surat, to uplift the lives of poor...
The Parsi Elite Welcomed in their Host Societies
Agnostic over at Dusk in Autumn poses a very interesting question… Why are Parsi elites welcomed, while Jewish and Chinese elites are reviled? Even though they are only one case, it is such a strong...
Should Parsis promote funeral alternatives?
The discovery of a desiccated human body part in the garden of a fire temple on Napean Sea Road last week caused a lot of distress and deliberation among the city’s Parsi-Zoroastrians. By Manoj Nair...
Dasturji Khurshed Dastur on the Udvada Land Issue
Dinyar Patel at Yazdegard.net has published an interview with Dasturji Khurshed Dastur, addressing the Udvada Land issue. What can Parsis do to help the Udvada Samast Anjuman? Parsis need to...
Allahabad Parsis Relying on ‘temporary’ Parsi priest for rituals
ALLAHABAD: Even as the heads count of the Parsi community is diminishing, both in the Sangam city as well as across the country, the community is struggling to find a 'Mobed' (Priest) to perform...
Carrying Hope: The Parsis of Surat
As the world’s population crosses the seven-billion mark, the dwindling Parsi community is trying to make its contribution By Mayank Austen Soofi | LiveMint Farzana Kharadi is carrying the weight of...
The Movie Shooting Controversey and Doongerwadi: An Open Letter.
The below is an open letter by Arzan J. Ghadially, regular reader of Parsi Khabar, on the recent incidents about the movie shooting at Khareghat Colony and the subsequent parking of vehicles, etc at...
For a Zarathushti, there is no alternative but to go the dokhma way
Ervad Marzban J. Hathiram, editor of Frashogard.com and a good friend of Parsi Khabar shares a letter the editor of Jame-Jamshed. Ervad Marzban J. Hathiram writes The Editor Jame-Jamshed...
Why Parsi girls won’t pick Parsi boys for marriage
At a posh venue in Dadar Parsi colony, the glass doors open to a scene that’s something between a promising party and a formal social gathering. The music is loud enough to drown the voices of the...
Who can stop woman from entering agiyari ?
The hearing of the case seeking confirmation of rights to the Parsi woman, who was prevented from worshipping at the Agiyari after she married a non-Parsi, came up before a larger bench of High...
Is Karachi step a Game Changer for Indian Parsis?
It has recently been reported that two years ago, Pakistan's top Zoroastrian trust explicitly declared that children with at least one Parsi parent can enter the faith. This means that even children...
Will Bombay Parsi Panchayat Go The Karachi Way
A recent decision by the Karachi’s apex Parsi trust to give children of women married to non-Zoroastrians the right to adopt their mother’s religion has generated interest in Mumbai where the...
Dokhmenashini Controversey
Noshir H. Dadrawala’s take on the Dokhmenashini controversey. Thanks for provoking me to respond on the latest controversy surrounding ?Dokhmenashini. I believe this controversy has a time cycle of...
Bachi Karkaria: Blindly into the abyss
The Parsis have been in the news for the wrong reasons. The fractious case which arose from the Bombay Parsi Punchayet's 2009 ban on two priests continues to make headlines. Earlier this month, a...
Understanding Parsi Population Decline: Video and text now available
Below is an email received from Dinyar Patel. Dinyar writes As many of you know, I recently gave at talk at the Nehru Centre in Mumbai on the topic of "Understanding Parsi Population Decline: A...
Parsis: A diminishing race
A Houston-based research student has written a paper discussing the causes for, and a solution to, the dwindling numbers of the Parsi community around the world By Priyal Dave | Afternoon DC “To all...
Intermarriage row must be resolved soon
It's not so much the elephant in the room, no one wants to acknowledge, but rather the unicorn they all imagine-that the global Parsi population isn't so desperately in decline, but that it has...
Dwindling numbers a big concern for Parsis
Dwindling numbers is a big concern among Parsis, but you would not have felt it at Udvada on Sunday as the community came out to take part in the 1290th anniversary celebration of the most important...
What can FEZANA do to promote marriage ?
Below is the conclusion of a study done by Dinyar Patel titled “What can FEZANA do to promote marriage?”. The conclusions of this survey throw some interesting light on the state of affairs and what...
Don’t Move SC Against Barred Priests, Say Some Parsis
1,150 join online petition saying Bombay Parsi Punchayet can use money to fund community activities instead of fighting another legal battle By Sunil Baghel | DNA An online petition gaining momentum...
Udvada Land Issue: Nucleus Developers Speak
Below is an email communique from Nucleus Developers who are at the centre of the “storm” over the 200 acres plot. Here is their side of the story. To, The Respected Parsi Community. Respected...
‘Priestly’ battle continues to rage
The dispute in the Parsi-Zoroastrian community over the bar on two priests accused of ‘irreligious’ activities has moved to the Supreme Court, which will hear an appeal later this month against the...
Resolve issue through mediation, court tells Parsis
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Parsi community to resolve a dispute relating to performing prayers or religious ceremonies at Doongerwadi (the Towers of Silence) in Mumbai and at two...
A question of trust, a matter of faith
The Bombay High Court’s recent verdict in the Parsi Priests’ case is historic. It recognises the generosity of the Parsi community and condemns a narrow, sectarian religious perspective...
Youths should respect Parsi priests: Chief Justice of India Sam H Kapadia
Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia exhorted Parsi youths to offer more respect to the high priests of the community, which is shrinking in numbers with time. Talking to Parsi Panchayat members at a...
Ban on priests will lead to talibanisation of Parsi Panchayet, HC told
Eminent members of the Parsi community, opposing a ban imposed by the Bombay Parsi Panchayet on two priests barring them from performing religious ceremonies, have told the Bombay High Court that...
Clarification on the Actress Debarred Issue
Last week we published an article that originally appreared in DNA India. It was written by Manoj Nair and titled “ Actress debarred from agiary revives gender bias debate “. Mr Nair regularly...
38% Parsi marriages in city were interfaith in 2010
One of the biggest worries of the Parsi community has now been spelt out in numbers. In 2010, 38% of Parsi marriages registered in the city were interfaith marriages, a figure that has shot up by...
Actress debarred from agiary revives gender bias debate
An incident last week at an agiary (Parsi fire temple) in Andheri has restarted a debate in the community about bias against women who marry non-Zoroastrians. By Manoj Nair | DNA India While there...
No more an option to stay quiet: An Interview with Dastur Khurshed of Udvada
No more an option to stay quiet says Dastur Khurshed Kaikobad Dastoor. High Priest of Iranshah The below is an interview by Teenaz Javat who interviewed Dastur Khurshed, the Vada Dasturji of Udvada....
Update on the Udvada Land Issue: Dinyar Patel
Below is an update on the Udvada Land Issue by Dinyar Patel. Dinyar is a doctoral student at Harvard University. He is currently in India doing research for his thesis Dear all, I know that there...
India’s Zoroastrians dying out for lack of Parsi clergy
In the cramped heart of the suburb called Andheri, the MF Cama Athornan Institute was strangely quiet. The institute, founded in 1923 to train Zoroastrian priests, is a large, M-shaped edifice with...
ZYNG Parsi Calendar Makes A Date With Controversey
By giving more than just the important dates concerning the Zoroastrian religion, a Parsi calendar released by the Zoroastrian Youth for the Next Generation (ZYNG), youth wing of the Bombay Parsi...
10 Predictions for Parsis for 2011
Taking a leaf out of Bejan Daruwalla, the renowned astrologer, Bombay Samachar takes a shot at predictions for Parsis in 2011 A BPP trustee will resign and elections will be held. Efforts to find a...
Planning Commission says No to boosting Parsi numbers
The government's plan to boost the dwindling population of Parsi community received a severe jolt with the Planning Commission rejecting a scheme proposed by the minority affairs ministry to improve...
Have they been barred from entering the temple?
A notice at a fire temple prohibiting inter-married Parsi-Zoroastrian women from bringing their children has them wondering whether their religious rights are at stake All fire temples in the city...
Bangalore Dakhma Dysfunctional
Bangalore’s explosive growth, while triggering a huge demand for living spaces, has caused an acute shortage of land for the dead. The pressure on graveyards is mounting. Here’s a searing look at...
Planning Commission Still to OK Scheme for Parsi Population Decline
The Planning Commission has not given "in-principle" nod to a Central government scheme aimed at containing the population decline of Parsi community, the government told the Lok Sabha...
Sanjan Day Celebrated amidst controversey
Below are two article on the recent Sanjan Day Celebrations. Conversion issue mars Sanjan Day celebrations Published by DNA India / Manoj R Nair The issue of religious conversions raging in...
Udvada: The Land Controversey
It's a change of different sort, a not-so-nice one, where one of the world's most ancient religions finds its nook of worship threatened. Parsi-Irani Zoroastrians in India and around the world have...
India’s religious community in irreversible decline
Parsis are an ethnic community in India that follow the Zoroastrian religion. They are originally from Fars in Iran and had migrated to Western India more than 800 years ago. They are an essential...
Vada Dasturji Meherjirana on the Udvada Land Issue
Below is a message from Vada Dasturji K N Dastur Meherji Rana on the Udvada Land Issue received via email from Kaizad F Keravala. The matter of the Udvada land near Paak Iranshah Atash-Beheram has...
Proposed industrial zone near Udvada fire temple angers Parsis
A land transaction in a tiny Gujarat village has caused concern among the Parsi-Irani community in Mumbai as well as the diaspora worldwide. About 200 km from the city is located Udvada, the...
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Approached to Resolve Udvada Land Issue
Parsis to approach Modi to save their first settlement Community fears non-agricultural status of holy land in Udvada may herald industrialisation The threat of industrialisation of Udvada,...
Now, Parsis take conservatism debate to Facebook
“You, Parsis, have a great responsibility to carry your faith to the next generation safely. But it’s hard to stick by these rules...Most young people would get frustrated by them and some may even...
Mumbai Parsis step in defence of banned priests
The Bombay high court has admitted an appeal, filed by eminent Parsis, challenging a ban on two Zoroastrian priests from praying at the Towers of Silence because they have been conducting initiation...
Udvada Pak Iranshah Under Threat
The Udvada Samast Anjuman would like to inform community members all over the world, about the possible threat that our sacred Shreeji Pak Iranshah is presently facing. The tenure of a huge plot of...
Parsis say no to conversion
A gang of Mexican drug smugglers, a sect of Brazilian nudists, a group of paedophiles__they have all professed to be Zoroastrians. Shocked and to stop such "infiltrations", about 35...