Done bySamrudhii Palshetkar

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism was founded by the Prophet Zoroaster in ancient Iran approximately 3500 years ago.

The precise date of the founding of Zoroastrianism is uncertain.

The vision of zoroaster.Zoroaster believed in one creator God, teaching

that only one God was worthy of worship. Zoroastrians believe that Zoroaster is the prophet

of God. Zoroaster himself is not worshipped, but through his teachings man can become close to God by following the path of truth and righteousness

Origin

Zoroaster Zoroaster was born in Afghanistan. He was born into a Bronze Age culture.Zoroaster's birth and early life are little documented. What is known is recorded in the Gathas - the core of the Avesta, which contains hymns thought to be composed by Zoroaster himself. Born into the Spitama clan, he worked as a priest. He was a family man, with a wife, three sons and three daughters.Zoroaster rejected the religion of the Bronze Age Iranians with their many gods and oppressive class structure, in which the princes and priests controlled the ordinary people.

HISTORY

The Archaemenian

549 BC - 331 BC•the Persians led by Cyrus the Great of the Archaemenian family, overthrew Western Iran. Cyrus thus founded the first Persian Empire.

•The Archaemenian kings are known to have been very pious Zoroastrians, trying in accordance with the Zoroastrian law of asha (truth and righteousness).

•Cyrus the Great was relatively liberal. While he himself ruled according to Zoroastrian beliefs, he made no attempt to impose Zoroastrianism on the people of his subject territories .

•Darius the Great was pious and showed the same general tolerance for other faiths as his predecessor Cyrus

• Alexander of Macedonia defeated Darius III in battle in 331BCE. Within five years he had conquered most of the Persian territories.

• Zoroastrianism received a savage blow. Many priests were killed and texts destroyed. Much was lost forever, but the core of the religion - recorded in the Gathas - survived.

The Seleucids 311 BC- 141 BCE and Arcasids 141 BC -

224 AC•The Seleucids were Greeks and took power after the death of Alexander. Zoroastrianism became regionally autonomous under the Seleucids. •The Parthian Arcasids overthrew the Seleucids and ruled for a much longer period than the Archaemenian, but their rule was less centralised.

The Sasanians 224 AD-7th Centuary

•The Sasanian, Ardashir, rebelled and overthrew the Arcasids. Important developments during the Sasanian period were:•A single Zoroastrian church was created under the control of Persia •The reformation of the Zoroastrian calendar •The use of images in worship was banned •Fire Temples were promoted •The traditional tolerance towards other religions was abandoned

The Arabs7th Centuary•In the 7th century the Islamic Arabs invaded and conquered Persia. Many libraries were burned and much cultural heritage was lost.•The Islamic invaders treated the Zoroastrians as dhimmis (People of the Book). This meant that like Jews and Christians, they could retain their religious practices, but must pay extra taxes. There were also many other laws and social humiliations implemented to make life difficult for the Zoroastrians in the hope that they would convert to Islam. Over time many Iranians did convert and Zoroastrianism became a minority religion in Iran.

Turks and Mongols

•Zoroastrianism suffered again at the hands of the invading Turks. Even more damaging were the Mongol invasions which destroyed more religious texts. This time Islamic texts also suffered irreparable loss.•Within half a century of the conquest, Gazan Khan converted to Islam and Zoroastrianism dwindled even further through renewed persecution.

Parsis10th centuary•In the 10th century a group of Iranians fled Iran as refugees in search of somewhere to practice their religion freely.•The Iranshah Atash Behram at Udwada - the most scared fire temple in India, which houses the flame brought by the Parsis on their flight from Iran ©•They finally ended up on the shores of Gujarat and were granted leave to stay there, thus founding the Indian Parsi community (Parsi being Gujarati for Persian).

GOOD THOUGHTS

GOOD WORDS

GOOD DEEDS

GOOD

EVIL(AZURA MAZDA) (ANGRA

MAINYU)

DualismDualism in Zoroastrianism is the existence of, yet complete separation of, good and evil. This is recognised in two interconnecting ways:

COSMICALLY

MORALLY

Zoroastrian holidays include the New Year, celebrated at the Spring Equinox.

NavRoz (literally, new day) or ten days of the dead, honouring and remembering Zoroastrians of the past,

Khordad Sal, Zoroaster's birthday. Its celebrated a few days after navroz.

HOLIDAYS

A child born of  Zoroastrian parents is not considered a Zoroastrian till he goes though the fold by the Navjote ceremony.

The word 'Navjote' means a new initiate who offers  Zoroastrian prayers.

The ceremony of initiation consists of the investiture of the child with the sacred shirt called 'Sudreh' and a sacred thread called 'Kusti'.

The Navjote ceremony among the Parsi is performed at the age of seven or nine or eleven, up until fifteen.

Navjote

FaravaharFaravahari is the symbol of the Zoroastrian faith. They are the divine guardians who are believed to accompany every human being and keep the world in order and motion.

Zoroaster :Ranked 93rd most influential person in world history on in Hart's book The 100 Cyrus the Great(580-529 BC) - founder of Persian Empire Darius I of Persia - king of PersiaFreddie Mercury- British rock star. Front man for the band Queen. (lapsed) Zubin Mehta- World famous conductor. Rohiton Mistry - Novelist Firdaus Kanga - Writer; author and star of the movie Sixth Happiness. Dadabhoy Navroji - a co-founder of modern India, alongside Gandhi and Nehru Feroze Gandhi - prominent Indian politician; husband of Indira GandhiFarrukh Dhondy - Channel 4 editor and scriptwriter (Britain) Dadabhai Naoroji – The grand old man of IndiaHomi Jehangir Bhabha- physicist; founder of India's nuclear program Tata family- one of the world's richest families.J.R.D. Tata - Indian industrialist,received the Bharat Ratna award.Godrej family - known for manufacturing household items and healthcare products" Farokh Engineer- world-class cricketer Bejan Daruwala - famous Indian astrologerPersis Khambatta- actress ("Lieutenant Ilia", in Star Trek: The Motion Picture )John Abraham - Bollywood Actor

Famous Zoroastrians

Zoroastrian Temple of Yazd, Iran. 

Ancient Zoroastrian Temple in Azerbaijan

Zorastrian temple of Chak Chak, near Yazd

Zoroastrian temple of Pir-e-Naraki, near Yazd

Before the Arabs invaded Iran there were many fire temples in Esfahan. The Arabs destroyed them all except for this one.

Funeral CEREMONIES Funeral ceremonies of 

Zoroastrians continues for four days. On the tenth day after death, certain prayers are said both at home and in the Fire Temple.

After a month, prayers are again said and then annually on the death anniversary.

The dead body is disposed of in 'Towers of silence' on the top of a hill. The flesh is devoured by birds of prey and after a few days, the bones are lowered into deep wells at the bottom where the bones slowly dissolve.

Therefore the mortal remains of the individual and is disposed of in a most hygienic manner.

STATUS OF WOMENMen and women are all seen as equal, one surpasses another through righteousness.

A woman's willingness to speak her views in the presence of her partner and for those views to be accepted as valid was characteristic and still is.

A Zoroastrian woman married to a non-Zoroastrian is deemed to have renounced her religion and accepted the religion of her husband, she has to be treated as a non-Zoroastrian from the date of marriage, irrespective of the fact that her marriage may be legally valid under the Special Marriages Act and, legally, she may not be deemed to have renounced the Zoroastrian faith.

Naujot is performed for both male and female children.

Of the six Immortal Beings created by God, three are feminine and three are masculine.

Menstruation and childbirth are viewed as a major sources of pollution in Zoroasrianism.

According to the Zoroastrian theories of creation, both men and women originated from the seed of Gayomard, the primitive man. When he was attacked by the evil forces, before passing away, he gave forth seed. The seed developed into female and male.They grew up from the earth like a plant united below the waist, whereby it was difficult to know who was male who was female. Ahura Mazda separated them from each other and changed them from plant into the shape of man.

Severe penalties have been prescribed in the text for men who touch women during this period. Having intercourse with menstruating women used to attract severe penalties in the ancient world. In the Arda Viraf there is a description of a man suffering from an agonizing punishment in hell for such a sin.

ORGAN DONATIONOrthodox Zoroastrians consider that pollution in the body is against the will of god therefore they are against organ donation.

They are against blood transfusion for the same reason,being unwilling to both donate and receive.

According to Zoroastrian scriptures, one should isolate the dead body and stay as far away from it as possible to avoid any possible contact with the impurities that the evil forces impart to it by invading it and making it their residence.

One should keep the dead away from all the material things including the elements of fire, water and earth. Fire is a sacred symbol of God inthe material plane. So fire should not be made impure by burning an evil ridden corpse with it. The earth is also a sacred. So it should not be tainted by burying the body in it. Similarly water is also a sacred element and bodies should not be thrown in rivers, lakes and oceans. Touching a corpse or dead material intentionally is fraught with the danger of severe pollution and turning oneself over to the forces of evil.