![]() ![]() ![]() Outfit of a Zoroastrian woman from Yazd, Iran. Their number in India is estimated at some 60,000. Over the centuries many Zoroastrians have fled religious persecution in Iran and moved to South Asia, where they settled mainly along the west coast of India and became known as the Parsis. Their number of followers in Iran is about 25,000, and their main centre in Iran is the city of Yazd. It has had a profound influence on Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Zoroastrianism used to be the dominant religion of Iran until the advent of Islam in the seventh century AD. The Holy Book of the Zoroastrians is generally known as the Avesta, which contains the words of Zarathustra. The Zoroastrians are also known for their fire temples, the most important of which is the eternal fire still being worshipped in Yazd. Fire and water are regarded as the two main cleansing agencies. Nowadays the dead are often buried in concrete graves. Corpses of the deceased therefore used to be exposed on hill tops or on man-made tower-like structures. Zoroastrian fire temple in Yazd, Iran of the characteristics of the Zoroastrians is their attempt not to defile the earth. In the end, Ahura Mazda will win, and all his rightful followers will join him in paradise on earth. For the Zoroastrians, the world is the arena for the battle between Truth and Falsehood. People thus have a choice, between supporting Good or Evil. Reputedly living in the late second millennium BC, somewhere in South Central Asia or eastern Iran, Zarathustra taught a dualistic religion in which the creator-god and Lord Wisdom, Ahura Mazda, fights a cosmic struggle against the God of Evil, Angra Mainyu.Īhura Mazda’s followers are asked to help him in this struggle, by Good Thoughts, Good Deeds and Good Words. Its roots allegedly date back to the teachings of an Iranian prophet called Zarathustra, who became known in ancient Greece as Zoroaster. The Zoroastrians are the followers of one of the oldest extant religions that base their beliefs on a written text.
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