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More than 100 members of the Zoroastrian community in Karachi attended the jashan performed by seven priests to celebrate the 154th anniversary of their Dossabhoy Wadia Dar-e-Mehr on mah Adar, roz Adar, April 21, 2023. The number of devotees was double the strength of those present in 2021 when community members had been advised to pray from home due to Covid restrictions. This year they could partake of malido and sev along with other snacks thanks to the generosity of several families, noted a report on the celebrations and history of the Dar-e-Mehr sent by Dinshaw Avari, the newly elected chairman of the Karachi Parsi Anjuman Trust Fund (KPATF), and Sunnu Golwalla, editor of the monthly What’s On, the newsletter of the Karachi Zarthosti Banu Mandal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Managed by the KPATF, last year PKR 1.5 crore (INR 43,18,353,  USD 96,117) was spent on the renovation of the fire temple after the agiary roof collapsed due to heavy rains. Standing in place of the earlier cement structure is now a stone façade with a colorful asho farohar. For the 2023 celebrations, the agiary had been specially lit up courtesy Dorab Anklesaria and his family.
Although consecrated as an atash dadgah in 1869, on its 35th anniversary Khan Bahadur Cowasjee Katrak spent a large sum to upgrade the dadgah fire into an atash adarian. The KPATF trustees take pride that over the years all the bois (prayers to mark the change of gah) have been performed regularly by the priests in attendance.
With three residential buildings owned by the KPATF — the Khajurina Building, Kothari Building and the Anjuman Building — located in the agiary complex, this fire temple is well patronized. According to Avari’s guesstimate, over 62% of the nearly 800 Parsis in Karachi live in ‘easier’ access to the Wadia Dar-e-Mehr. The H. J. Behrana Dar-e-Mehr in Saddar is 175 years old and looks more grand but has no provision for parking as it lies in the heart of the old city; therefore access is very difficult for most people.