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From the coconut groves of Mahim and Malabar, to the N. C. Narielvala Agiary in the heart of the Parsi stronghold of Dadar, lies a 200-year-old journey. The fifth oldest agiary in Bombay, Narielvala was built through the perseverance of  Cowasji Rustom Patel and his two sons, Navroji and Pestonji, narrated Adi Engineer, a descendant of the family and seniormost trustee. Engineer was addressing a gathering of about 220 invited attendees in the main hall with a spillover on the verandah that fronts the fire temple on April 15, 2022, roz Ardibehesht, mah Adar. The occasion was the institution entering the 201st year of its existence.
The retired Tata Power senior executive and director had, in 2006, through local contacts, discovered the place where his ancestors set up an estate near Allepey in Kerala. "It was a surprising discovery…No sign of the family name remained… The local historian who took me there was also the owner of the property.” Engineer had only one fact to go by for locating the erstwhile estate. Based on family hearsay, he knew the property had a pavilion where Mohandas Gandhi held his discourses. When he stated this factoid to the historian, "it was all very easy for him to take me there.” The walls of the home of his ancestors had been demolished. "All that was left was the flooring… The adjoining property was the deserted home of the last Parsi there, one Roda Narielvala.” The local historian-cum-owner of the property was a dealer in umbrellas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The family’s history is intertwined with coconuts on many levels. And umbrellas. The progenitor of the family, Rustom Hirabhai Patel, as far back as Engineer could trace based on oral family accounts, was the headman of Hansot village near Surat. Engineer traces his lineage to Patel’s son Cowasji who left his village in the 1760s to travel to Bombay. "One day, while sitting on the seashore, disturbed by discord over succession in his family, he boarded a Bombay-bound vessel without informing anyone.” Reportedly, when his footwear was found on the beach, after a search that proved futile, funeral prayers were said for him. Landing at Mahim port (this was before the Bombay docks as we know them today were built), Cowasji started life in an area named Narielwadi (the Gujarati word for coconut is nariel). Given refuge by a local from the Prabhoo community, Cowasji soon became a supplier of coconuts from the then lush, fertile Mahim to those living within the erstwhile Bombay Fort.
Navroji and Pestonji were Cowasji’s "two very hardworking sons.” Following in their father’s footsteps, they took up trade with Calcutta and along the Malabar coast. On one of his trips, Navroji was accosted by pirates. "He thought he could distract them by showing them ‘foreign goods,’ namely umbrellas and mirrors.” Not amused by the wares, the pirates hauled the captive Navroji before the local raja. "We should collaborate with this Parsi,” a courtier told the king. The family went on to settle there and "even built a small dadgah in Allepey… They purchased coconut groves and traded in timber, Engineer told us. "They supplied timber to the Wadias (shipbuilders) in Bombay.” Navroji reportedly employed 40 Parsi families on his estates. He was known for his high ethical standards. "And secondly, for his compassion,” stated Engineer. "He was always helping the underdog.”
Meanwhile, back in Bombay, Navroji established a place of worship in their home in Mazagaon in 1822. "It was run from family funds,” stated Engineer. After Navroji died, his daughter-in-law Bachoobai funded it for 27 years out of her household expense. Income from coconut groves around the family home kept the home fires as well as the consecrated fire going. About 80 years later, the colonial administration wanted the land for expansion. "The docks were expanding… the government said we will give you land wherever you can identify the need for a fire temple,” narrated Engineer. Engineer’s great-grandfather ("also named Pestonji, a banker”) located the plot where the fire temple currently stands. "My maternal grandfather, Dr Bapooji was instrumental in the construction of the building,” said Engineer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The power of the fire”
A single-storied structure with Gothic-looking pointed arches, the Agiary sits in a largish (by Bombay standards) compound. Having been established in Mazagaon in 1822, the fire was moved to its current location in Dadar in 1901. Today Narielvala receives about four to five footfalls daily. "But that is not a true measure,” according to Engineer, who stated that about 100 behdins have their muktad prayers done here annually. The head priest, Ervad Gustasp Vimadalal, is assisted by four boiwallas. The trust owns and runs two residential buildings, one in Mahim and one near the current location of the Agiary in Naigaon Cross Lane, Dadar.   
Engineer’s co trustees are chartered accountant Nawshir Mirza, veteran banker Hoshang Sinor and Jam-e-Jamshed editor and Adi’s daughter, Shernaaz Engineer who served as master of ceremonies for the bicentenary celebration.
Keynote speaker and principal of the Dadar Athornan Institute that prepares young boys for the priesthood, Ervad (Dr) Ramiyar Karanjia, noted that at the rate of five Nyaish per day while performing the boi ceremony, 3,65,000 such prayers would have been recited by priests before Narielvala’s consecrated fire. "And double that amount by the laity…So by now about 11,00,000” in totality. "Just imagine the power of the fire!” he exhorted. On a personal note, he stated he was present at the 200th anniversary celebrations of Bharuch’s Shapurji Sorabji Narielwala Agiary too in 1983, his father Parvez having served as panthaky there for over two decades. The families that established Bharuch’s fire temple and Dadar’s are reportedly not connected.
Consecrated fires comprise the energy of Ahura Mazda, said Karanjia, referring to the physical fires used in the consecration. They bring divine messages and provide guidance. Such fires and humanity "are brothers in arms” in the fight against evil, the priest observed. "We hear a lot about feng shui, reiki, Vaastu, pranayam nowadays…They use various aspects and manifestations of energy… Zoroastrianism recognized the importance of (spiritual) energies thousands of years ago… There is a chain of energy in the universe — from Ahura Mazda to atash behrams to agiaries to dadgahs fires to humans.” Exhorting regular visits to fire temples, the principal stressed: "We need to nurture the sacred fire with the spiritual food of prayer, especially the Atash Nyaish… Fire temples are the greatest uniting force for our community… No matter what one’s religious leanings, we all go there,” he stated.
Referring to the presence of chief guest Justice Shahrukh Kathawalla, who recently retired from the Bombay High Court, the priest stated that fire and justice are interconnected in Zoroastrianism. "Justice is an integral part of truth. Meher Yazad presides over both truth and justice... Truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order” he observed, referring to a quote attributed to American business magnate and philanthropist, John Rockefeller.
Kathawalla lauded the "faith and devotion of our forefathers” and attributed those qualities to the community’s holy fires having survived hundreds of years. "We need to support and sustain our agiaries and religious institutions with generous donations… This is the least we can do… for the next generation of Parsis.”
Lamenting the lack of attendance in fire temples, the retired judge queried rhetorically, "Have we become so educated and successful that we no longer need God? …Just because one is highly educated and successful, should one feel it is beneath one’s dignity to follow the faith or speak in Gujarati? … Our language, our customs, our prayers, our culture, our ethos is important. We cannot afford to lose it.” Kathawalla stated that Parsis are a privileged lot. "We need to be responsible in our conduct and do nothing to tarnish the community’s image…In fact we must do everything possible to enhance our community’s image.”
Commending the role of priests, Kathawalla stated, "We have to give them utmost respect and take care of them… However, our priests must also realize their responsibility towards the holy fire and the community.” 
Mirza, who introduced Kathawalla, quipped that he was at a double disadvantage. "All of us who read the Parsi media know him… There is very little I can say that you are not aware of.” He added that he "did not have the advantage of having been a supplicant before him!”
Regular devotee, architect and renovation consultant Jamshed Sethna, Mahiar Mehta who supports the Trust with engineering solutions and Darius Contractor who "keeps the residential building running” were felicitated. The Lakdawalla and Adranvala families, who had connections with the fire temple even before it moved to its current location, were felicitated for being longstanding supporters of the institution. Ervad Demavand Sethna was recognized for his role in coordinating the evening’s events.
"We had decided to felicitate three community stalwarts, and some workers who assist the Agiary,” Adi told Parsiana. Karanjia was felicitated for his role in mentoring young mobeds, and Kathawalla for his record tenure in the Bombay High Court. Homa Petit, president of The B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital and his wife Aban, vice president, were felicitated for the Hospital’s role in alleviating the hardships of the pandemic. Shernaaz referred to the Hospital as a "temple of healing.”
As stated Shernaaz, "We cannot imagine what will happen 200 years later… It is not for us to do so… Ahura Mazda has sustained and will sustain our faith and our fires for hundreds of years in the future as he has in the past.”