Zoroastrians Keep Old Traditions Alive In Australia

March 18, 2010

Author: Neena Bhandari

Source: News Blaze

http://newsblaze.com/story/20100318081728iwfs.nb/topstory.html

It's a Sunday morning. A fire is burning on a silver urn in the sanctum sanctorum as about 30 children pray with a priest in the main hall of the Darbe Meher, the place of worship and community activity for Zoroastrians, in the Sydney suburb of Annangrove.

Nestling amidst verdant surroundings with a tranquil billabong (pool of water) and fruit trees, the Darbe Meher has become the epicentre of learning and festivities for the Zoroastrians who have migrated to Australia from India, Pakistan and Iran since the 1960s.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' 2006 census, there are 2,110 people (1,156 males and 954 females) practising Zoroastrianism, the pre-Christian faith founded in Persia (Iran) by Prophet Zarathushtra, who believed in a single God, Ahura Mazda.