You may be excused for mistaking the bungli at the Parsee Zoroastrian aramgah in Srinagar for a sanatorium. The stone structure with a balustraded veranda is reminiscent of many structures in the hill stations of India. "The WZO (World Zoroastrian Organisation) Trust Funds have willingly agreed to pay an annual stipend to the gardener/watchman who looks after the community estate,” noted a mail from their president Dinshaw Tamboly. "The stipend amount is a nominal one lakh rupees per annum,” he noted, in response to Parsiana’s queries.
Top and above: views of the bungli and graves at Srinagar’s Parsee Zoroastrian aramgah
The one-and-a-half-acre aramgah property includes the bungli comprising two rooms. There is also a hothouse cum garden shed and living premises for a gardener/watchman, Tamboly noted. The surrounding area is an orchard of almond and walnut trees. Approximately 32 community members, including six unnamed people, have been interred at the cemetery, notes a helpful board on the premises, which also maps the names of the deceased to the location of the graves.
Tamboly noted that the land on which the cemetery stands was gifted to the community by Maharaja Pratap Singh of Kashmir in 1893 "in recognition of their services to the state, to be used expressly for the purpose of establishing an aramgah.” Reportedly, a "greater portion” of the land was requisitioned by the government to establish the Badami Bagh Cantonment Bazar. The last funeral and interment was conducted in 2005, he stated.
Tamboly acknowledged that Khushman Tamboli of Rajkot, who recently visited Srinagar, came upon this little known piece of community history and met with the armed forces authorities. They requested that the gardener/watchman who looks after the property be paid a stipend for his efforts.
Reference to the aramgah had been made several times by former Delhi Parsi Anjuman president, Lt Gen Adi Sethna (retd) at The Federation of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India meetings. At that time access to the graveyard was strictly controlled on account of the civic unrest in Kashmir.
Community members interested in visiting the aramgah can reach Badami Cantonment via Batwara chowk through Rajendra Dwar, where they should obtain visiting permission from the administrator commandant or the relevant authority present at the time, stated Tamboly’s email. The contact number of the Srinagar Badami Cantonment is +91 1942466575.