Marriage of convenience

"Our Zoroastrian Centre now not only offers a glorious setting for navjotes and marriages with its dadgah, dining and catering facilities, but is now also certified to solemnize Zoroastrian marriages that take place at the venue,” announced the summer 2009 edition of ZTFE News, the newsletter of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe. Thus Zoroastrians married at the Zoroastrian Centre would no longer be required to visit a separate registry office to solemnize their weddings as ZTFE’s inhouse volunteers — two senior priests, Ervads Rustom Bhedwar and Jal Karkaria, and two administrative secretaries, Kerman Munshi and Roshan Avari — are trained and registered to do so.

With the permission granted for registering marriages, the refurbishment of the Grade 2 listed art deco building and remodeling of the kitchen, ZTFE hopes the Zoroastrian Centre will be "a popular venue” for special occasions.

Members of ZTFE with the Keeka family who donated the toran (top right) for use at the Setayash Gah; (below) refurbished Zoroastrian Centre

In response to Parsiana’s queries, ZTFE president Paurushasp B. Jila clarified, "The marriage must be a full Zoroastrian marriage ceremony for it to be certified as a religious marriage. Also, as part of the ceremony, a couple of lines ‘words of affirmation’ are to be repeated by the couple, and of course witnesses, and then they sign in the marriage register.”

The ZTFE also considers itself fortunate that the silver toran that once adorned the Zanzibar agiary was gifted for use at the Setayash Gah in London. The toran was installed over the doorway of the inner sanctum on May 17, 2009 to coincide with the Dae mah jashan and gahanbar.

Framroze Keeka, amongst the early Parsi settlers in Zanzibar, had gifted the toran to the Zanzibar agiary in 1925. Descendants from the Keeka family, Cyrus, his wife Aban, son Daraius and wife Simonil, another son Rustom, were all present at the unveiling of the toran at its new abode. "The toran will help us to perpetuate the memory of those from Zanzibar,” mentions ZTFE News referring to the agiary that was built by Cowasji Dinshawji Darji (Adenwalla) in 1895 and presented to the Parsi anjuman. With the retreat of Zoroastrians from Zanzibar the agiary remained in disuse except when visited by an occasional overseas visitor and hence it was decided to dispose of the premises and use the religious silverware including the afargan at the new prayer hall in Toronto.