Readers' Forum
Appeal for funds
I send this appeal on behalf of The Parsee Zoroastrian Anjuman based in the Nilgiri Hills of south India.
In 1840 Pestonjee Nasserwanjee Bottlewalla, a businessman of Ooty, donated a plot of land measuring three acres and 18 cents for use as a burial ground for the minuscule Parsi community there as well as for putting up a building for religious purposes. The first Zarathushti to be buried there was one Mr Irani in 1847. Thereafter about 120 persons were laid at rest there. Ours is the only functional place for burial south of Bangalore, catering to the entire southern part of the peninsula. The first chairman of the Anjuman at Ootacamund was Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy (Baronet) in 1900. Thereafter a long list of Zoroastrians served the Anjuman.
We are a small community of about 30 residents in the towns of Ooty, Coonoor, Masinagudi and Kotagiri and about 25 non-residents who visit the Hills periodically. Our numbers have diminished drastically in the last two decades, and most of our members are senior citizens. We have a building known as The Jal Phiroj Hall which was built and donated to the Anjuman by Phiroj Muncherjee Clubwalla of Madras in 1907 in memory of his son Jal who passed away in 1906 at the tender age of 14 years. We conduct jashans and other religious ceremonies here, but we have no mobeds. All prayers, including those for the dead, are recited by one of us.
We appeal to members of the community for donations to keep our Anjuman afloat as a large portion of our land is under litigation and the graveyard as well as the building are in a state of disrepair. We require funds to enable us to preserve our rich inheritance before it is too late.
Donations may be made by cheque/demand draft payable to "Parsee Zoroastrian Anjuman A/c No 334402010209644” and addressed to Homi N. Sethna, managing trustee, Parsee Zoroastrian Anjuman, West Croft, Gray’s Hill, Club Road, Coonoor 643101.
In 1840 Pestonjee Nasserwanjee Bottlewalla, a businessman of Ooty, donated a plot of land measuring three acres and 18 cents for use as a burial ground for the minuscule Parsi community there as well as for putting up a building for religious purposes. The first Zarathushti to be buried there was one Mr Irani in 1847. Thereafter about 120 persons were laid at rest there. Ours is the only functional place for burial south of Bangalore, catering to the entire southern part of the peninsula. The first chairman of the Anjuman at Ootacamund was Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy (Baronet) in 1900. Thereafter a long list of Zoroastrians served the Anjuman.
We are a small community of about 30 residents in the towns of Ooty, Coonoor, Masinagudi and Kotagiri and about 25 non-residents who visit the Hills periodically. Our numbers have diminished drastically in the last two decades, and most of our members are senior citizens. We have a building known as The Jal Phiroj Hall which was built and donated to the Anjuman by Phiroj Muncherjee Clubwalla of Madras in 1907 in memory of his son Jal who passed away in 1906 at the tender age of 14 years. We conduct jashans and other religious ceremonies here, but we have no mobeds. All prayers, including those for the dead, are recited by one of us.
We appeal to members of the community for donations to keep our Anjuman afloat as a large portion of our land is under litigation and the graveyard as well as the building are in a state of disrepair. We require funds to enable us to preserve our rich inheritance before it is too late.
Donations may be made by cheque/demand draft payable to "Parsee Zoroastrian Anjuman A/c No 334402010209644” and addressed to Homi N. Sethna, managing trustee, Parsee Zoroastrian Anjuman, West Croft, Gray’s Hill, Club Road, Coonoor 643101.
HOMI N. SETHNA
Coonoor
Coonoor
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