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Zoroastrian communities internationally tend to comprise mostly two main groups of people: Indian Parsis and Iranian Zoroastrians.According to a study in 2012 by the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America, the number of Zoroastrians worldwide was estimated to be between 111,691 and 121,962. The number is imprecise because of ...
Interior view of dakhma Early 20th century drawing of the dakhma on Malabar Hill, Mumbai. A dakhma (Persian: دخمه), otherwise referred to as Tower of Silence (Persian: برجِ خاموشان), is a circular, raised structure built by Zoroastrians for excarnation (that is, the exposure of human corpses to the elements with the purpose to enable their decomposition), in order to avoid ...
Zarathushtra Spitama, [c] more commonly known as Zoroaster [d] or Zarathustra, [e] was an Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism.
Cyrus the Great, (Old Persian: 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 Kūruš; Kourosh; New Persian: کوروش Kuruš; Hebrew: כורש, Modern: Kōréš, Tiberian: Kōréš; c. 600–530 BC) : commonly known as Cyrus the Great, and also called Cyrus the Elder by the Greeks, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian Empire.
The "three Persian religions" include: Zoroastrianism (xiān-jiào 祆教); The Christian Church of the East (jǐng-jiào 景教); Manichaeism (míng-jiào 明教); Zoroastrianism was first introduced to China during the early Northern and Southern dynasties period, while Christianity and Manichaeism were both introduced to the Central Plains during the Tang dynasty.
Zoroastrian or Iranian cosmology refers to the origins and structure (cosmography) of the cosmos in Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrian literature describing cosmographical beliefs include the Avesta (especially in its description of Avestan geography) and, in later Middle Persian literature, texts including the Bundahishn, Denkard, and the Wizidagiha-i Zadspram.
Many of the larger shrines are located near a natural water source, the water of which may be considered sacred as well. [7] Often, plane trees or cypresses [ 8 ] can be found in or near the pir. To these trees are sometimes tied wish-ribbons, a form of decorative, occasionally highly complex, textile garlands .
The subsequent conversions of members of the Ilkhanate to Islam had a detrimental effect on Zoroastrianism. By the time the Mongols were expelled, Fars province had escaped major damage and Zoroastrians had moved to the north of Pars, primarily to the regions of Yazd and Kerman, [20] where even today the main Zoroastrian communities are found.