Zoroastrianism

The founder of the Zoroastrian Religion was the Holy Spitama Zarathustra. He was born in Azerbaijan, not later than the 12th century BCE to Porushsaspa and his wife Dogdo. Ahura Mazda, Almighty God, divinely revealed the Zoroastrian Religion to Lord Zarathusatra.

The three basic tenets of the Zoroastrian Religion are (Humata, Hukta, Huvareshta) good thoughts, good words and good deeds. It is also believed that God is the source of light, wisdom and intellect. He is in possession of all good things spiritual and worldly. He grants good and perfect gifts to the righteous man who is upright in words and deeds.

Man is given a free choice to lead a good or bad life.

Zoroastrianism is the first religion to practise monotheism (belief in one God). They have been known to possess a charitable spirit as they are indoctrinated in the belief that they are only the trustees of what they possess and must share their wealth with the less fortunate.

An important concept of the Zoroastrian religion is that he alone is happy who makes others happy.

Women are considered the most important person in the family, and highly respected.

Zoroastrians are one of the smallest religious groups in the world. Spread all over the world, they are loyal to the government of the country in which they live. The term “Parsees” was given to the Zoroastrians by the people of India, because when asked where they came from, the answer was from Pars which was the name of Persia as Iran was then known by. A Parsee means a person from Pars.

Parsees in India are famous for their charities. “Parsee Thy Name Is Charity” is how the Government of India labels them.

The Parsees settled in Singapore in the middle of the 19th century as businessmen and professionals, and have left their own mark of charitable spirit. The Singapore Government named two roads, Mistri Road and Parsee Road after the late Navroji Mistri who donated one million dollars. The money was used to build the children’s wing of Singapore General Hospital and named the “Mistri Wing”, which acknowledged Singapore Zoroastrians’ contributions. Another Parsee, the late Mr Pestonji Davar passed away in 1979 and bequeathed a large sum of money to various charities to be administered by the Hong Kong Bank Trustees, and another fifty thousand dollars to the Parsi Association, Singapore.

The small (less than 200 persons) community in Singapore continues to flourish and happily supports all other communities in their social welfare programmes.

The United Nation’s Economic and Social council (UNESCO) recognised the year 2003 as the 3000th (three thousand) anniversary of Zorastrian culture. There are worldwide exhibitions and celebrations of one of the oldest religions in the world.