The Magicians Of Mazda: Bharat Collection 7

by Ashwin Sanghi

The temple hosts the throne of a sacred fire known as the Iranshah. While the enclave is around 265 years old, the fire itself has been burning for almost thirteen centuries. A group of 18,000 followers of the prophet Zarathustra had fled Islamic persecution in Persia in the eighth century and reached—via the small fishing village of Diu—a town called Sanjan on the coast of Gujarat. They were granted refuge by King Vijayaditya of the Western Chalukyas, known as Jadi Rana in Zoroastrian texts. The Parsis had promised their God, Ahura Mazda, that they would consecrate a sacred fire—an Atash Behram—if they made it safely to their new home. Alas, political intrigue forced them to move the fire’s location many times: from Sanjan to Bahrot, then Bansda, then Navsari, then Bulsar and finally to Udvada, where it remained.

In later manhood, the invincible Begada destroyed the renowned temple of Dwarka, and chopped its chief priest’s body into twelve pieces that were displayed singly on each of the dozen gates of Ahmedabad. He even coerced the raja of Junagadh into turning Muslim.