Vendidad in London

Ceremonially speaking, March has been a big month for the London community.

After a jashan in the Zartoshty Brothers Hall of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe’s (ZTFE) Zoroastrian Centre at Harrow in the evening of March 21, 2005 — Jamshedi Navroz — the small afargan of the ceremony was carried in pomp to the beautiful new Setayesh Gah and the fire transferred to the big afargan, imme­diately followed by a maachi ceremony, as per the plan conveyed by ZTFE’s joint social secretary Kobad Avari. This marked the completion of events that began with the transfer of the Setayesh Gah from its old abode at Compayne Gar­dens to the spanking new furnishings of the Harrow Centre.

Fi­fteen minutes after midnight on March 12 seven mobeds of the commu-nity had begun the recitation of the Vendidad Sadeh. The beginning of the eight hour ritual was witnessed by 250 devotees of whom 110 stayed until the end and broke into spontaneous applause for the priests — Ervads Rustom Bhedwar who recited the prayer from the Avestan text; Ervads Jal Karkaria, Marazban Dastoor and Erach Daruwalla who used the Gujarati text gifted to the ZTFE by the Dadar Athornan Madressa and its principal Dr Ramiyar Karanjia; Ervads Homi Desai, Zubin Writer and Zubin Bhed­war who looked after the fire in the sanctum and prayed separate­ly throughout the eight hours.

The event had begun at 10.30 p.m. on the 11th with a lecture by Dr Rashna Writer on the history and significance of the Vendi­dad. Thereafter Rustom Bhedwar explained its religious content. The audience appreciated the "magnificent renovation work” undertaken at the Centre with a big ovation to architect Shahrokh Shahrokh, notes the e-mail from ZTFE president Dorab Mistry. To the delight of the audience, ZTFE benefactor Mehraban Zartoshty, but for whose munificence this Centre would not have been acquired, spoke on a telephone link from his residence in the US, congratulating the community on accomplishing the renovation of the former cinema hall and on the historic prayer held reportedly for the first time outside the Indian subcontinent.

As the site of the ceremony was the Setayesh Gah outside the sanctum where space is limited, the devotees had been requested to make their sandalwood offering and return to their place in the Zartoshty Brothers Hall where a special video link had been arranged so that the ceremony could be both seen and heard. They had also been prepared by the ZTFE newsletter to bring cushions or sleeping bags for those who needed to relax for some time.

When the ceremony that taxes the priests’ endurance ended, the community celebrated with a sumptuous breakfast tabled by the devotees, notes Mistry’s e-mail.

On the demise of Pope John Paul II the ZTFE’s Inter Faith repre­sentative Jehangir Sarosh conveyed the condolences of the Zo­roastrian community to the Vatican, extolling the Holy Father’s work for peace and harmony in the world.

The sentiment was acknowledged by Archbishop Michael Fitz­gerald of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue at the Vatican. Fitzgerald had visited Zoroastrian House on March 21, 2003. For two consecutive years, 2002 and 2003 Ervad Rustom Bhedwar had been invited to the Vatican and had met the Holy Father, notes an e-mail from Mistry who represented the community at the Service of the Solemn Vespers conducted at the Westminster Cathedral on April 4. "Pope John Paul II did more than anyone in our times to revive mankind’s faith in God Almighty and to bring freedom, peace and goodwill to the world. As was said at the Service, he was very conservative and yet very modern. His papacy was the papacy of air miles! So widely did he travel and so extensively did he touch the hearts and minds of people throughout the world!” notes Mistry.