The former Portuguese town of Diu has retained most of its original features. Zoroastrians seem to have settled in Diu since the early days of their migration to India after the Muslim conquest of Iran. According to local records in Diu, Zoroastrians lived on the island for over four centuries, occupying a small quarter to the north of the town, one block behind the harbor. In the town plan of 1865 the fire temple has been referred to as "Pagode dos Parses.” It was situated between the Christian quarter and commercial and administrative center.
Clockwise, from top l: infant class, chapel, tailoring class,
well at the former fire temple in Diu which is now a convent
The affluence of the Zoroastrian community is manifest from their grand European style houses, each now occupied by several families. In the middle of the former Parsi quarter was the fire temple erected with high walls to prevent the complex from being viewed from the outside.
The last Zoroastrian families are said to have left the island in 1950, but the fact that the fire temple’s structure has survived for over half a century without much alteration is largely the result of decisions made by community members who felt that the building should not be sold but utilized in a manner that would benefit all communities on the island.
In 1950, when the sacred fire was to be taken to Surat, the Zoroastrians approached the Portuguese governor of Diu to express their wish. On the recommendation of the archbishop, a group of nuns from the order of the Handmaids of Christ was sent from Calangute in Goa to set up a convent there. The building, now Saint Anne’s Convent at Parsiwada, houses a chapel as well as a school for infants and a tailoring class for children of all castes and creeds.
The building of the former fire temple has a simple layout with two interconnected halls each with an arched portico and two domed chambers. Constructed in 1830, with the fire consecrated on mah Amardad, roz Ashtad in 1199 Yazdegirdi, August 16, 1830, it is probably one of the earliest prototypes of fire temples in India and probably in the style used by the Parthians and Sasanians. The building was reconstructed many times.
RAYOMAN SORABJI ILAVIA
Surat
ilavia.r@gmail.com