The K R Cama Oriental Institute lecture: the endangered Zoroastrian ceremonies– Yasna and Visperad
Date: Tuesday, 30 November 2021, 6:30 pm Indian time, 1:00 pm British time
The Yasna and Visperad are among the most important Zoroastrian priestly rituals and have been performed for at least the past two millennia. However, these ceremonies are an endangered heritage as they have become increasingly rare. This lecture focuses on the significance of these ceremonies, the history of their transmission and factors responsible for the present decline.
The lecture will also present an overview of the current academic research on Zoroastrian rituals, including the recent publication of The Gujarati Ritual Directions of the Paragnā, Yasna and Visperad Ceremonies authored by Céline Redard and Kerman Daruwalla. This book is the first-ever English edition to systematically make the Gujarati ritual text of these important ceremonies available to the wider research community.
About the Speaker
Kerman Daruwalla has recently submitted his PhD thesis at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) – University of London, titled Becoming an Athravan: a study of the training of Zoroastrian priests in India. He is presently working as a consultant on the Multimedia Yasna (MUYA) project at SOAS.
Zoom Meeting link:
Meeting ID: 832 6156 5220
Passcode: 679546
