Mumbai, BBC News
BBCA museum dedicated to the supporters of one of the nation’s oldest religions, Zoroastrianism, is hidden in a street in the southeastern end of Mumbai, India’s economic capital.
The Framji Dadabhoy Alpaiwalla Museum records the background and reputation of the once-dwindling Parsi area, a waning and generally Indian minority ethnic group.
The Parsis are reportedly heirs of Persians who fled religious oppression by Islamic leaders decades ago. They are estimated to be between 50 and 60 000.
Despite making significant contributions to India’s economic and cultural cloth, the general public and the rest of the world are unaware of much about the Parsi community.
The newly renovated exhibition hopes to break some of this silence by allowing visitors to learn about the history, culture, and traditions of the Parsi community through the collection of rare historic artefacts on display, says Kerman Fatakia, museum curator.
Cuneiform tiles, terracotta vases, coins, and different items dated between 400 and 5000 BCE are some of the items.
Similar to the Achaemenian, Parthian, and Sasanian kingdoms, Zoroastrian Iranian princes previously ruled in these locations.
There are also items from Yazd, a city in central Iran that was once a lifeless desert and where many Zoroastrians migrated after fleeing other parts of the country after the Egyptian war in the seventh century BCE.
A copy of Cyrus the Great, a Iranian prince who founded the Achaemenid kingdom, is one of the significant artefacts on display.
According to Fatakia, the sand barrel is one of the most significant discoveries of the old world, also known as the “Edict of Cyrus” or the “Cyrus Cylinder.” It contains a list of the privileges that Cyrus granted to his content in Babylon and is written in cuneiform script. A copy of the first man rights contract can be seen at the UN, which is largely accepted as the first.
Additionally, charts that show the migration routes of tens of thousands of Egyptian Byzantines who fled their home countries in the 8th to the 10th centuries and then again in the 19th century.
Additionally, the series includes works by famous Parsis, including Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, the leader of the renowned Tata Group, which owns companies like Jaguar Land Rover and Tetley drink.
In a dramatic area, Parsis, who traded opium, silk, and cotton with China in the early 19th century, created another wealth that is displayed. Traditional Parsi outfits are featured in the exhibits, which were influenced by styles from China, France, and different regions whose influence has been influenced by these global trade ties.
versions of a Tower of Silence and a Parsi fire church are two of the gallery’s most intriguing displays.
The dying are neither buried nor cremated at the Tower of Silence, or Dakhma, where Parsis leaves their remains to be brought back to nature. Fatakia notes that access to the actual buildings is restricted to a select few people, noting that the imitation shows exactly what happens once it is placed it.
The life-size copy of the fireplace church is equally fascinating and offers a rare glimpse into a spiritual place that is usually reserved for non-Parsis. It is based on a well-known Mumbai church and features spiritual motifs from Iranian antiquity.
One of the state’s older corporations is the Alpaiwala Museum, which was first established in 1952 in what was then Bombay. It recently underwent renovations, and the displays are then well-preserved and in glass cases. A guided tour is provided for each user.
Although it’s a small exhibition, Fatakia claims that it is full of history.
” And it’s a great place for people from all over the world to learn more about the Parsi area, not just the people of Mumbai or India.”