The first prayer meeting to be held at The Prayer Hall in Worli was the uthamna of 95-year-old Nergish Fali Nariman on September 9, 2015, as per an obituary notice in a morning newspaper. She had passed away on September 7, 2015 and was cremated at Chandanwadi, with the evening’s Sarosh nu patru performed at her residence. Expecting a larger number of people to attend the uthamna, her family booked the Hall for the purpose.
(Top row, l-r): body being wheeled to the furnace; Nergish Nariman and Dara Madon;
(Second row, l-r): at Prayer Hall; after geh sarna
The second ceremony to be performed at the Hall was the paidust of Dadar resident Dara Madon, uncle of Ervad Khushroo Madon, on September 11, 2015.
The Hall, inaugurated on August 3, 2015 with a jashan (see "Hail the Hall,” Parsiana, August 21, 2015), had received permission from the Bombay Municipal Corporation to start functioning just two weeks prior, mentioned a report in the Hindustan Times of September 9, 2015.
On Fravardin roz, Fravardin mah, all souls’ day, which fell on September 5, 2015, a Parsiana staff member visited the Hall — to find nary a soul there. Only the gardener waved at her. The door being ajar, she entered the Hall to find some workers sitting around. They solicitously asked whether she would like the light switched on or use the fan, both of which, to their surprise, she declined, choosing instead to pray there in solitary silence. Perhaps, next year there could be a baj performed at the Hall on this day, she feels.