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On Christmas day, more than 200 Zoroastrians, intermarried Parsi couples and their families gathered at Poona’s Asha Vahishta, The Zoroastrian Centre (AVZC) to celebrate the Centre’s first anniversary. It was a proud moment for brothers Vispy and Kerssie Wadia, founders of the Association for Revival of Zoroastrianism (ARZ) and the driving force behind the AVZC, which was set up "to put an end to the prejudice and discrimination faced by intermarried couples and their families desiring to continue with their Zoroastrian way of life.”
 "The community’s response to the Centre has been positive and encouraging,” said Vispy. "In the past year, 18 navjotes and five weddings for Zoroastrians and intermarried Zoroastrians have been held at the Centre. Funerals have also been held for people who were not consigned to the Tower of Silence. Tandorosti and machi prayers are offered regularly. Just a few days ago, the Centre was visited by 20 Parsi and Irani youth from the United States, Canada, Pakistan, New Zealand and India who were participating in the Zoroastrian Return to Roots (RTR) initiative. They were accompanied by RTR organizer Arzan Wadia.”
AVZC’s celebrations began with a traditional machi and jashan ceremony performed by six priests. The thanksgiving prayers were followed by a short musical recital by Armaan, Mehdi and Mojan, musicians from Iran who performed Zoroastrian religious folk songs using classical musical instruments such as the sarinda and tamboor which originated in ancient Persia.
Kerssie then introduced their special guests — Awat Darya, representative of Kurdistan’s Zoroastrian community in the Kurdistan Regional Government’s ministry of endowment and religious affairs, and her husband Jamal Sulaimaniyah, head of the Yasna Organisation set up in Erbil, Kurdistan, to promote Zoroastrianism. Darya and Sulaimaniyah’s trip to India, covering Poona and Delhi, was sponsored by the World Zoroastrian Organisation, UK, and their stay in Poona was sponsored by ARZ mentor and one of its biggest benefactors Darius Irani.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In her address to the gathering, Darya talked about the revival of Zoroastrianism in Kurdistan where she said large numbers were "reverting” to the faith. A teacher who had lived in Europe for many years, she set up a bookstore on her return to Kurdistan. During an interview on a local television show, people noticed that she was wearing an Asho Farohar pendant, and curious Zoroastrians soon began flocking to her bookshop to meet her and discuss their common faith.
This prompted Darya to form an association where Zoroastrians could meet and network on a regular basis. "Nobody was ready to step up, so I told myself I must do it.” She faced opposition from other communities at first, but she persisted in "getting the fear out of the people.” Intrigued by Darya’s story, the audience wanted to know how many Zoroastrians there were in Kurdistan. "We do not have exact numbers, but there are many thousands,” she replied. The Wadia brothers presented a jashan set made of German silver to Darya and Sulaimaniyah who were next proceeding to Delhi to attend an event hosted by the Delhi Parsi Anjuman.
Darya’s estimate of the number of Zoroastrians in Kurdistan may not be wide of the mark. According to Wikipedia, "Zoroastrianism has become the fastest growing religion with Kurds, especially in Kurdish-controlled Northern Iraq… It has been estimated that many Kurdish individuals reverted to Zoroastrianism especially after ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) attacks on Kurdistan. Currently, Zoroastrianism is an officially recognized religion in Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran. On September 21, 2016, the first official Zoroastrian fire temple of Iraqi Kurdistan opened in Sulaymaniyah. The Zoroastrian faith has around 50,000 followers, according to official research from the religious affairs committee from the parliament.”
Parichehr Mehr, wife of the late Dr Farhang Mehr, former deputy prime minister of Iran during the Shah’s reign, and Irani also addressed the gathering. Irani revealed that according to a formal statement released by Awqaf, the Kurdish organization for religious endowment in Kurdistan, the Zarthosti population was increasing rapidly and would soon touch 3,00,000.
While refreshments and chasni were being served to the guests, the irrepressible Vispy was already planning ahead. "The dadgah and Centre are being used by an increasing number of Zarathushtis… the rooms on the second floor that are used for navjotes and lagans need to accommodate the large numbers that attend these functions and will require expansion in the near future. We need to add a few more floors to the existing building.” Clearly, the Wadia brothers’ brainchild has been accepted by many Parsis in Poona, and is thriving and growing.