Often people have wondered where we Parsis pray, whom we pray to, how we pray & many other unanswered questions which bewilder people about our secretive community. Many a times my friends ask me do you have to travel all the way to Iran for your pilgrimage, like the Islamic community goes to Hajj? Yes, even though Iran is the place where our first and most sacred fire is located, deep within the hills, this fire, it is said has never burnt out, not even after we Parsis were forced to leave our motherland. But a part of that fire was brought here to India when we first landed by ship.
That sacred fire, unseen by any non-Parsi was bought to a small town in Gujarat known as Udwada. Thus in India, our place of pilgrimage is Udwada where thousands of Parsis come from far and wide to visit our temple (Atash Behram). Each and every Parsi must visit Udwada atleast once in their lifetime. It is said that a Parsi only reaches this destination if he is called by our God and is destined to pray here.
As known to everybody no non- Parsi is allowed into our fire temples, but there are other attractions that bring people here time and again. For one, it moves you to an old time place which looks like its come out of those old colonial movies. The bungalows are extremely old and are inhabited by Parsis of the much older generation which make their living selling delicious Parsi foodstuffs or selling sandalwood for the fire and our garments which are supposed to be worn by us Parsis. Not many people live here anymore, especially Parsis, but it is still greatly visited by us.
Another awesome quality about this place is the beach they have. The beach here stretches for miles and miles which are not as clean as the waters in Goa, but not as dirty as the waters in Mumbai. The sun setting into the sea is something which beats any other sunset seen. Something that makes me go there all the time is the food. Traditional Parsi food that is absolutely lip smacking and keeps you asking for more and more.
Though I absolutely recommend this place to one and all I still request you all to respect this religion like they respect yours. There are many rules here and the most important one is that no non-Parsi is allowed to go into any of the temples. Very strict action is taken if one does enter and what’s worst, is that it hurts the sentiments of a community. And lastly it is a very beautiful and untouched place which shouldn’t be polluted and destroyed.