Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-15

IN 81 NI are IRG luoSl ulStlAlSb dhN ~
lM T%I culiar of the many races
in III which have their home in In
liz n hi dia; and their religion is In
lEsSsZAAA teresting as survival OF the
cary Aryan faith which held sway IN
central Asia when the lamp of CIVIL
cation burned brightest in Persia. They
expose their dead to be devoured by
vultures and the sacred fire is the en-
blem of their highest devotion. These
strikingly peculiar customs, together
with the commercial supremacy of the
race in Bombay, invite the interest OF
every visitor to India.
The Parsees are followers of Zoroas-
ter and believers in the sacred writ
ings of the Zend-Avesta. Their re-
ligion was founded twelve or fourteen
centuries before Christ and, with many
changes, remained the prevailing faith
of Persia and Central Asia until the
Mohammedan missionaries of the
sword overthrow their nation and per
secuted their religion In the year n!
small body of Persian refugees fled
to India and were welcomed by the
Hindu chief of Baroda. 1t was then
that they assumed the cap shaped like
horses hoof in token of submission
to the rulers of their adopted country.
They led a precarious existence, now
ever, and did not assume Importance
until after the English established
Bombay, when they were given an
opportunity to make use Of their
natural business shrewdness.
Parsee means simply Persian" and
is racial name. The religion is, cor
rectlv called Vandalism" and is
sometimes known as Zoroastrianism,
from the name of its great prophet:
The Zend-AVesta, the sacred DOCK OIL
Persia was not completed until many
af InrO1 GtHr.
and the Parsees look to the Hebrew
prophet Daniel, as one of their great
est teachers -
Parsees stoutly deny that they are
| fire worshipers, despite the opinion OF
centuries and the yeneration when
they accord to the sacred fame. me
original refugees from Persia brought
the enbers OF the sacred fire from cen
trail Asia and the fires now alight In
the parsee temples of India are be-
lieYed to have been kindled more than
5000 years ago. According TO the tehets
of the faith there are two splrits,
Ahura Mazda, or good, and DeVa, OF
evil. which are constantly STRIVING LOT
the mastery. Their hope and bellet
is that Soshios, son of Zoroaster, VIII
he reincarnated and that he will de-
stroy evil, purify the world ana make
Mazdaism supreme. This belief Is a
heritage from the Jews through Danlel.
The believe in heaven and hell, that
conduct in life determines the future
state of reward or punishment they
DENY the doctrine of reincarnation, ex-
cent in the case of the expected second
coming of Soshios, and they hold that
duly performed religious rites by the
living help the souls Of their ancestors
to happiness.
The elements, fire, water and earth,
are revered as the gifts of the good
spirit, and the sun, moon and stars are
also held sacred. The more ignorant
classes worship the elements ana the
celestial bodies as gods, the higher
classes consider them the holy gifts of
the supreme good God. Fire, water
and earth are held most sacred In the
order named.
The religion was corrupted by con-
tact with Hinduism for many centuries,
but about 800 years ago there was fresn
immigration from Persia, and the puri-
ty of the faith was restored. In late
years, under the influence of the occi-
dental civilization there has been a
movement among the higher classes to
differentiate the fire and other symbols
from the higher worship, and this has
brought about a revival of study OF the
ancient Persian language and a closer
organization of the religious body of
the race.
One thing must be said of the Parsees
their morals are high, and there is no
blemish upon the conduct of their lives
in their family relations, as father and
son, mother and daughter, husband and
wife. The Parsees have a high reputa-
ton as men of honor in business; they
will fulfill a contract to the minute and
the letter But it is wise for the other
party to look sharp at the time the con-
tract is sealed.
The body, whence the soul has de-
parted, is accounted impure and UNI
clean. Therefore, fire must not be de-
filed by burning 1t, water must not be
defled by casting It into the sea or
river, and earth must not be defled by
burying it. So the practice began, ages
ago, of exposing the corpses to be
eaten by birds and beasts. This prac-
tice has been refined and systematized,
and is now invested with the strict
ceremonial Of ultra-ritualism.
The Towers of Silence in Bombay are
the most interesting things to be seen
in that interesting city. They stand
at the top of Malabar HILL the highest
point of ground on Bombay island.
There are five circular towers of from
200 to 300 feet in circumference and