Uran’s Umrigar Agiary

On October 11, 2007, the 103rd anniversary of the Umrigar Agiary in Uran, about 600 people attended the jashan performed by Ervads Dinyar and Behramsha Sidhwa of Thana’s Patel Agiary, as per a write-up forwarded to Parsiana by Dolly Divecha and Fali Palkhivala, along with photographs taken by the latter. The event was organized by resident caretaker Kersi Behramsha Sui. Entertainment was provided by Marzban Mehta who, along with Marzban Wadia, sang religious and comic songs with percussion accompaniment. Mehta also read out a poem he had written in honor of Bomi Khambata, who had passed away earlier in the year. The excellent catering was provided by Bomi’s wife Ketayun, at a nominal rate of Rs 65 per head. She is now managing the catering concern on her own.

Sui, who has been living on the premises and looking after the place "for many years” (see "Uran: Harboring hopes,” Parsiana, January 1994), informed over the telephone that "very few people visit the fire temple, not more than 10 in a month. But the turnout at the salgirah function is sizeable. In earlier years it used to be even greater when free beer was served along with the lunch,” he observed. Asked who the trustees of the fire temple are, he responded: "There are no trustees.”

In actual fact there are four trustees: Phiroze Bharda, Dosu Bhiwandiwalla, Rusi Sethna and Burjor Sidhwa. Bharda informed Parsiana that since none of the trustees was present on the occasion, there was nothing he could say. Bhiwandiwalla elaborated that Sui’s father had been the resident priest at Uran, but since Sui had refused to vacate the priest’s quarters after the father’s demise, the trustees have been unable to appoint another resident priest. In addition to the Agiary and priest’s residence, there is also a dharamshala which is in a dilapidated state. The trustees managed to raise a sizeable amount of money for its restoration, "in the region of Rs 30-40 lakhs,” so that "Parsis could use it as a holiday retreat, or perhaps the Zoroastrian Scouts and Girl Guide troops could camp there,” Bhiwandiwalla revealed. However, he said that Sui had prevented the contractors from carrying out any work. Allegedly, Sui also threatened Bhiwandiwalla physically "so I see no reason to visit the place now,” he added.

When informed about these allegations Sui replied that he himself has borne all the costs of running the Agiary and adjacent buildings for very many years, including paying taxes thereon, electricity bills and other expenses. The trustees have "only recently woken up to the commercial potential of the property” and want to build a "hotel” or "resort” there, which he says he will "not permit...Where were all these trustees for all the years that I have paid for everything and looked after the place? They hardly ever come here,” he said. When asked why he still continues to occupy the priest’s residence, he ripostes with "Let the trustees repay all the money I have spent on this place. I am ready and willing to vacate if they compensate me adequately to purchase a flat in Bombay. But this they are not willing to do.” Nor does he deny the confrontation with Bhiwandiwalla, citing that he was provoked into it because of an uncomplimentary comment the latter had made about a deceased member of his family.

Sui’s wife Ketayun, on a visit to the Parsiana office, along with her husband, revealed that after the death of her father-in-law (whose salary was stated to be Rs 40 per month to begin with), then trustee Ardeshir Bhiwandiwalla retained her mother-in-law on a monthly salary of Rs 110 per month, which was later increased to Rs 300. However, after her demise six years back, no money has ever been paid for looking after the property. Bhiwandiwalla senior would send a truckload of bawal wood every two years for nourishing the holy fire, but had intimated Sui that this would stop after his lifetime. Sui’s wife tearfully said that the family she married into lived in abject penury, working without adequate recompense. The area teemed with snakes and she had to negotiate her way through these reptiles when visiting the outside toilet at night. The roof of the residence leaked and was repaired only after donations for the purpose were forthcoming. Drunken revelers who visited the dharamshala would mess up the place, and the family would have to clean up after them, she revealed. It was harrowing, and with little or no income coming in she had no recourse but to move back to her parental home along with her children. The level of poverty was unimaginable, she asserted. The present day trustees, who came on the scene recently, are refusing to compensate Sui for the years of labor, not to mention the money, he has put into the Agiary, even buying the bawal wood with his own funds, she asserted.

The item "Simple yet sincere” (Events and Personalities, Parsiana, June 1994), revealed that Sui was among the four recipients of the Parvez Katrak Foundation award for that year. "Sui is committed to his self-imposed task of looking after the fire temple and adjoining property in Uran, an area rarely frequented by the community,” the report stated.

Sui, who has been "looking after the dadgah saheb for the last 20 years… managing and administrating as well as incurring expenditure on the upkeep of the Agiary and its adjoining compound without any support from the trust funds,” has appealed to Parsi Irani Zoroastrians to donate generously for urgent repairs to the roof of the kathi storage room and the roof of the dharamshala building which have been leaking for the past two years. These repairs, at an approximate cost of Rs 3.5 lakhs, would enable him to store the kathi and the Agiary’s utensils in an appropriately enclosed manner, he avers.