Agiary reconsecrated

When a security guard was caught allegedly stealing from the donation box at the Ghari Khata Agiary (as the Seth Dossabhoy Merwanji Wadia Dar-e-Meher in Karachi is popularly known) "a vendidad and jashan were held to consecrate the Agiary again,” noted a communiqué from Byram Avari, chairman of the Karachi Parsi Anjuman Trust Fund (KPATF), dated December 18, 2022. The guard could enter the sacred precincts because "the key to the Agiary hangs on a hook” for the convenience of devotees.
"Zoroastrians have been visiting the Agiary at odd hours of the night. The KPATF board, at a meeting held on December 10, decided that the Agiary will be locked at 8 p.m. like the Saddar Agiary and one key will be with the panthaky, Ervad Farzin Yazeshni and one key will be with the mobed who does the night boi,” noted the circular.

When Parsiana sought further details from Avari, he recounted that when the elderly Iranian mobed went to the Gari Khata Agiary for change of gah at around 1.30 a.m. he reportedly found the security guard standing inside the Agiary next to the donation box with a Rs 1,000 note in his hand. On being questioned, the guard mentioned that he found it lying on the floor and was trying to put it inside the donation box. "It was obvious that he had extricated it from the donation box,” wrote Avari. The following day the services of that security company were terminated and a new set of guards, one for day duty and another for the night have been brought in.
On an average about 15 devotees visit the Agiary each day but the footfall on auspicious days is higher, stated Avari.