Discovering Iran

The land has been much in the news lately, much of the publicity being positive. BBC Radio 4 broadcast a program on Darius the Great, master of the largest empire the world had ever seen, on September 18, 2006. Presented by Tom Holland, author of the book Persian Fire, the broadcast was part of the Corporation’s Discovering Iran series, notes an e-mail from former Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE) president Rusi Dalal.

The Zoroastrian Centre

During the documentary Holland interviewed Dr John Curtis, keeper of the Ancient Near East Department at the British Museum, and Paurushasp Jila, ZTFE president. Beginning with how Darius claimed to be the defender of truth by a cosmic mandate as the lieutenant of Ahura Mazda, the program veered toward Zoroastrianism and Holland’s visit to the Zoroastrian Centre in London. Dalal was justifiably thrilled to hear Holland describe the Zoroastrian Centre and its Zartoshty Brothers Hall as having "echoes of ancient Persia.” Ervad Jal Karkaria, one of ZTFE’s senior mobeds, performed a prayer ceremony in the Zoroastrian Centre’s Setayash Gah which became a part of the presentation.