Udvada, the Vatican of the miniscule Zoroastrian community
Udvada, a sleepy coastal village in Gujarat, is as constant as the North Star in the lives of the vibrant Zoroastrian community, which is on the brink of extinction.
A mother and child stand in front of a crackling fire that leaps upward from a large silver urn in the sanctum sanctorum of a pillared 18th century temple. Their palms are folded in supplication and their lips move in silent prayer.
A priest, clad in starched white garb with a small square of cloth covering the lower part of his face, feeds the fire with fragrant sticks of sandalwood. As the flames leap higher, they light up the upturned faces of a small clutch of devotees who stand in a circle behind the mother and child, faces turned heavenwards as though communing with a higher force.
Udvada is unlike other pilgrim places in India where piety and a certain raucous energy combine in a swirl of collective devotion.
The picturesque little village of Udvada, on the west coast of India, is the site of a grand temple where the almost 1,300-year-old holy fire of the Zoroastrian community in India, is enshrined. Indeed, the former fishing village is the Vatican of the minuscule dying community of Zoroastrians in India. There are about 57,000 Zoroastrians in India currently, just half of what it was in 1940. It is conjectured that by the end of the century, there will be just 9,000 Zoroastrians left in the country.
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A hamlet, steeped in history
Yet Udvada, a sleepy village, continues to thrive as it is entwined in the lives of most Zoroastrians, followers of what is believed to be the first monotheistic religion in the world. The Zoroastrians fled Iran and came to Sanjan in Gujarat, around the 7th century CE, to escape religious persecution. According to legend, the holy fire (called Iranshah) was consecrated in Sanjan at around the same time and has burned uninterrupted ever since. Initially, the fire was even moved around Gujarat for protection from hostile invaders.
When one stands reverentially in front of the blazing fire, one can sense the presence of one’s ancestors whose hopes and deep gratitude fed it, much like the ordained priests who have kept it alive. In an adjoining hall, hangs a larger-than-life portrait of Prophet Zarathushtra, the founder of the ancient religion which pivots around the worship of Lord Ahura Mazda, the creator and supreme Lord of Wisdom. Alongside are pictures of other Parsi icons.
Udvada is unlike other pilgrim places in India where piety and a certain raucous energy combine in a swirl of collective devotion. In Zoroastrian temples, Lord Ahura Mazda is symbolised by the holy fire and worship is private as each devotee either prays from a book or meditates.
Where time stands still
Little has changed in the miniscule village as though time has respectfully left its aura of piety, untouched. Around 60 Zoroastrian residents live in an enclave around the fire temple which is essentially a couple of narrow streets, flanked by low-slung vintage homes built in the Gujarati vernacular style, with sloping tiled roofs and balconies hemmed by elaborate grill work. The ornate railings of a couple of homes showcase former British royalty! Beyond the Parsi enclave is a cluster of homes where around 6,000 non-Parsi residents reside.
The Iranshah Udvada Utsav, held every two years, wakes up the hamlet from its characteristic womb-like stillness to indulge in three days of revelry. The resulting uptick in the local economy and ambience is welcome. However, soon after, the village retreats into its siesta mode again.
Serenity rules in the narrow lanes in the heart of old Udvada. On weekends, the street leading to the temple mills with devotees in head scarves and black caps hurrying to pay obeisance to the Almighty. In the wraparound verandas of cottages, a few residents sell sandalwood sticks and religious icons. In one corner, a clutch of vendors hawks local baked goodies.
Come evening and bearded priests relax on the deep balconies, sharing the day’s news, their faces aglow with the peace that comes from the comfort of living in the shadow of the holiest of holies.
Change, however, is sneaking in like a thief on silent feet. A few modern faceless apartment blocks have come up while some vintage ones are crumbling. Others have been sensitively restored.
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Another challenge for the seafront village is the onslaught of an ever-advancing ocean that is gobbling up sandy swathes of Udvada beach. Now an embankment restrains the wrath of the ocean.
Udvada’s food heritage
Barring Café Farohar, a fairly new addition to the food scene in Udvada, there are no stand-alone restaurants in the hamlet. A few dharamshalas (guest houses) and modest hotels like Globe Hotel and Hotel Ashishvangh offer spacious rooms and are bastions of Parsi cuisine brimming with artery-busting cholesterol and calories. Meals are served on the open-sided verandas of the rooms or cottages where families sit at tables groaning with gob-smacking platters of food. Meal times are punctuated with laughter and a fugitive air of gourmandise.
The day starts with doodh na puff that comes in tall glasses – a local delicacy of milk infused with sugar, cardamom and nutmeg topped with an airy froth. “Doodh na puff was a way of preserving milk in the old days,” says Kaizad Patel, a well-known, Mumbai-based fourth generation caterer who caters for festive occasions. The milky treat is followed by a hearty breakfast of an omelette, and often dollops of fresh cream on toast, mutton mince and cups of mint tea!
Lunches and dinners are generally cooked on a wood fire. Lunch comes with the day’s catch fried in a delicate local spice blend, followed by sali chicken (chicken in a thick gravy sprinkled with slivers of fried potatoes), dhan dal rice with prawn patio (rice with lentils, topped with a spicy prawn sauce.) The feast is washed down with hand-churned ice cream sold by an itinerant vendor who also plies his three-wheeler tuk-tuk between the railway station and the village. A typical dinner would comprise chicken cutlet, chicken farcha (fried chicken), tender chunks of mutton in a thick curry, and a traditional baked custard.
In the day, we walk to the temple which, according to well-known architect and conservationist, Jamshid Bhiwandiwala, is built in the Persian Persepolis style.
Barefoot, we enter a carpeted space beyond which is the central sanctum where the holy fire burns. A white-garbed priest strikes a bell whose rich timbre seems to soar to the heavens, echoing in our hearts and stomachs! It reminds us that a feast of Parsi delicacies awaits us at the hotel.
For in Zoroastrianism, living the good life is as much a form of devotion as the hushed prayers uttered in a temple.
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The lead photo at the top depicts a relaxed afternoon in the verandah of a local home as a priest catches up with a friend. (Photo by Gustasp and Jeroo Irani)
Gustasp and Jeroo Irani are a Mumbai-based husband-and-wife team of travel writers and photographers with 30 years of travel behind them.
