Zarathustra, Founder Of The Persian Religion, Zoroastrianism

ByFatima Abid
Founder of Persian Religion, Zoroastrianism

Persian religion, Zoroastrianism is as ancient as 4000 years. It is believed to be one of the oldest religions to still be in practice. After the Muslims conquered Persia between 632 to 656 AD, the followers of Zoroastrianism, Parsis fled to India to save themselves. They now exist as a minority in India. Globally, around 100 to 200 thousand people practice the religion.

Founder Of The Persian Religion

Avesta, the religious book of Zoroastrianism declares Zoroaster as the founder of the Persian religion. Preachers of the religion believe Zoroaster to be born somewhere in Iran or near Afghanistan. It is further said that his tribe believed there to be multiple gods and they followed another religion.

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In accordance with the scripture, Zarathustra after having a vision began to preach about one god, “Ahura Mazda”. It is said that he initially faced heavy criticism by the people for his preaching. However, after the king believed in his message, people started to accept the religion. He then began to get visions from his Ahura Mazda who he believed to be god. The messages were then transferred from one generation to another for the text to be preserved. After the Parthian Empire believed in the religion and its teachings, the messages from Ahuda Mazda to Zarathustra began to be recorded in writing.

Details Of Zarathustra’s Life

Although the religious scripture does not mention much details about his life, it is believed by the practitioners of Zoroastrianism that their prophet followed in his father’s footsteps to initially become a priest at 15 years of age. His four brothers are also believed to be the same. His religion is now widely known as Early or Ancient Persian Religion.

In spite of the fact he was forced to partake in traditions, Zarathustra found ones involving animal sacrifices to be cruel and against god’s mercy. It is believed that he received his vision from Ahura Mazda when he was 30. He was told to preach about only one god instead of the many that people were following. The message further relayed about Ahura Mazda’s moral behavior instead of believing in animal sacrifices.

Zarathustra then began to preach the vision he received.

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Beliefs in the Persian Religion, Zoroastrianism

The believers of the religion pray in the area of worship called fire temples. They are to have an altar with a flame that burns endlessly and is not put out. The followers adhere to the belief that 3 original fire temples came from Ahura Mazda, the god of the Persian Religion.

Another tradition that Zoroastrians follow is sky burial. It is a practice in which the dead body of a person is set down on a higher place such as a mountain to be decomposed by animals, especially vultures. A dukhma, popularly called the Tower of Silence is built for excarnation. However, in the late 20th century, this practice was banned in Iran. Following this, the dead are commonly buried under concrete. Despite the practice being declared illegal, many Parsi in India still abide by their ritual.

Symbols Of The Religion

Zoroastrianism’s main symbol is termed the Faravahar. It illustrates a person with a beard having one hand reach forward. The man is surrounded by wings representing good thoughts and deeds. The wings are representative of eternity. Fire also holds the upmost importance in the religion as it is believed to represent light. Water is said to represent purity.

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Fatima Abid
Obsessed with books since childhood, Fatima Abid now pens down her own words. Her favorite part about writing is transforming the ideas flying in her head into words on a screen. Her abundance of articles are a testament to her passion for writing.

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