A welcome chance

A welcome trend or a freak occurrence? The three-day funerary prayers of Jimmy Bhavnagri who died on the morning of February 11, 2012 and was cremated the same afternoon at the Chandanwadi crematorium, were performed at the Dadysett Agiary at Flora Fountain on February 13 and 14.

The geh sarna ceremony had been performed on February 11 by Ervad Framroze Mirza, one of the two priests whom the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) termed "renegade” and have barred from performing religious ceremonies at Doongerwadi and two agiaries controlled by the BPP. Mirza claims he had cautioned Ervad Darayus Nalladaru, one of the three Dadysett Agiary panthakies, that if he performed the ceremonies in the fire temple he would face public approbation. Nalladaru reportedly disregarded the warning and went ahead. Mobeds from several agiaries and a mobed training institute reportedly performed the various ceremonies for Bhavnagri at the Dadysett Agiary.

As news of the incident reverberated around the community, Godrej Baug resident and lawyer, Bakhtawar Karbhari who represented the Jabalpur anjuman at the last Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India meet in February 2012, shot off an angry letter to the Jam-e-Jamshed Weekly and asked Nalladaru for an explanation. "It is unfortunate that some of our priests perform irregular ceremonies on financial inducement… I would like our revered high priests to… take appropriate steps in the interest of preserving the sanctity of our faith and religious practices.”

Nalladaru responded in the same issue of February 19, 2012 that he had "inadvertently undertaken the four-day after death ceremonies of a cremation related case, which I understand is not in conformity with the working rules of the Parsi/Irani Zoroastrian priestly class in Bombay.

"I am sorry for having hurt the sentiments of our community members. I assure everybody that I would never have undertaken the… ceremonies if I had been aware that it was a cremation related case.

"I make an assurance that such things would not occur in future in our agiary under our panthak. I will return the money earned from this job.”

As the BPP does not permit the four-day funerary ceremonies for those who opt for alternate means of disposal to dakhmenashini to be performed at Doongerwadi, Parsi/Irani Zoroastrians who wish Parsi/Irani Zoroastrian prayers by Parsi/Irani Zoroastrian priests have to go elsewhere.