Clergy and religious life
The priesthood in Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism, the ancient religion of Iran founded on the teaching of the prophet Zarathustra, has a priesthood that is hereditary. Only men born into priestly families, known among the Parsis of India as athornan, may be initiated, and the laity are called behdin. A boy of such a family is initiated as a priest when young, through the ceremony of navar, after memorising long liturgical texts in Avestan. A second initiation, martab, qualifies him to perform the higher inner rituals, such as the yasna. Priests tend the sacred fires that are the focus of worship, perform initiations, weddings and funerary rites, and recite prayers for the community. The two main communities are the Parsis, descended from Zoroastrians who settled in Gujarat over a thousand years ago, and the Zoroastrians who remained in Iran, chiefly in Yazd, Kerman and Tehran. Both are small and the number of serving priests has declined, and both debate questions such as the acceptance of converts and the place of women in ritual life.
- High priests
- Priests of the fire
- The Iranian priesthood
Orders and states of life
High priests
A dastur is a high priest, traditionally the head of a major fire temple or the religious leader of a community. Among the Parsis the title is held by the senior priests of the Atash Behram temples and of certain priestly lineages. Dasturs are consulted on questions of ritual and religious law, but there is no single head over all Zoroastrians.
Priests of the fire
After navar a priest bears the title ervad; with martab he may perform the inner rites and serve in the highest fire temples. Parsi usage calls an officiating priest a mobed. Many priests serve a temple full-time; others, after initiation, take up secular careers and perform rites only occasionally, which has contributed to a shortage of priests.
The Iranian priesthood
In Iran the general word for a priest is mobed, and the priesthood is organised through the Council of Mobeds (Anjoman-e Mobedan) in Tehran. Iranian ritual has diverged in some details from Parsi practice. Since the early 2010s the council has trained women as mobedyar, assistant priests who may perform certain ceremonies.
High priests
High priest (Dastur)
dastur (Persian/Gujarati, دستور); dasturji
Addressed as Dasturji, prefixed to the name (e.g. *Dasturji Saheb*)
The dastur is the senior priest of a community or of a great fire temple. In India the title is closely linked to the Atash Behram, the highest grade of sacred fire, consecrated from sixteen different sources; the oldest, the Iranshah at Udvada, is the principal pilgrimage site of the Parsis. Dasturs supervise the priests of their temple, preside at important ceremonies such as the consecration of fires, and give rulings on ritual practice. Their views are often sought, and sometimes contested, in debates over who may be counted as a Zoroastrian.
What the figure wears
- Priest's robe jama (Gujarati, જામો)
A long, loose robe of white cotton, closing across the chest and falling to the ankles; white is the colour of purity and of all priestly dress.
- Turban pagri (પાઘડી)
A rounded white turban, folded and stitched into a fixed shape, worn by Parsi priests; Parsi laymen formerly wore a similar headdress in black or dark colours.
- Shawl
A white shawl or long cloth worn over the shoulders on formal occasions, adding to the all-white dress of the senior priest.
- Sacred cord kusti (کشتی), over the sudreh (سدره)
A long cord woven of seventy-two threads of white lamb’s wool, wound three times around the waist over the sacred undershirt and knotted during prayer.
- Outside services
- Many dasturs wear the white jama and pagri daily, as a priest is expected to remain in a state of ritual purity. Every Zoroastrian, priest or lay, wears the sudreh and kusti from initiation.
- Insignia
- There are no special insignia; the all-white dress and the title mark the high priest, and authority comes from lineage, learning and the temple he serves.
Priests of the fire
Priest (Mobed / Ervad)
mobed (Persian مؤبد, Gujarati મોબેદ); ervad (from Middle Persian herbad, teacher-priest)
Addressed as Ervad, prefixed to the name (e.g. *Ervad Sheriarji*)
The mobed serves the sacred fire and performs the rites of the community. In an Atash Behram or Atash Adaran temple, priests feed the fire with sandalwood at each of the five daily watches (gah), reciting prayers as they do so, and keep it burning without interruption. Mobeds also perform the navjote, the initiation of children into the faith, weddings, funeral and memorial ceremonies, and the long inner rituals for which a high state of purity is required. Most fire temples admit only Zoroastrians to their inner halls.
What the figure wears
- Priest's robe jama (જામો)
A long white cotton robe falling to the ankles, worn over the sudreh and kusti for all priestly duties.
- Cap or turban topi (ટોપી) or pagri
A white cap, or a rounded white turban, covering the head; Zoroastrians keep the head covered during prayer and before the fire.
- Mouth veil padan (پَدان)
A white cloth tied over the mouth and nose so that the priest’s breath and saliva do not pollute the sacred fire while he tends it.
- Fire ladle chamach (ladle) and chipyo (tongs)
A long-handled metal ladle or tongs used to place sandalwood and incense on the fire without touching it, keeping the hands at a distance.
- Outside services
- Full-time temple priests wear white throughout the day. Priests with secular careers wear ordinary clothes at work and put on the jama, cap and padan when they perform ceremonies.
- Insignia
- The padan is the most distinctive sign of a priest serving the fire; there are no further marks of rank.
The Iranian priesthood
Iranian priest (Mobed)
mobed (Persian, موبد); mobedan mobed for a senior head
Addressed as Mobed, prefixed to the name
In Iran the mobed performs the same essential duties as his Parsi counterpart: initiations (sedreh-pushi), weddings, funerals, the seasonal festivals called gahambar and prayers before the fire. The great fire of Yazd, housed in the Atash Bahram temple there, is the most venerated in Iran. Iranian mobeds are organised through the Council of Mobeds in Tehran, which trains new priests and since the early 2010s has also trained women as mobedyar. The Iranian community, recognised as a religious minority with a seat in parliament, numbers in the tens of thousands.
What the figure wears
- White robe jameh (جامه)
A long white robe falling to the ankles, worn over the sudreh and kusti; Iranian priestly dress is plain white like that of the Parsis.
- White cap kolah (کلاه)
A white cloth cap covering the head, worn at all ceremonies; Iranian mobeds do not usually wear the Parsi turban.
- Mouth veil padam (پدام)
A white cloth worn over the mouth and nose during ritual, so that the breath does not reach the fire or the sacred offerings.
- Barsom barsom (برسم)
A bundle of slender metal rods, held in the hand during certain liturgies; in ancient times it was a bundle of plant twigs.
- Outside services
- Most Iranian mobeds wear ordinary clothes in daily life, as many work in other professions, and put on white dress for ceremonies at the fire temple or in homes.
- Insignia
- None beyond the white dress, the padam and the ritual objects of the liturgy.
Questions people ask
Why do Zoroastrian priests cover their mouths?
Fire is the most sacred element in Zoroastrian worship, regarded as a symbol of purity and of the divine light of Ahura Mazda. It must not be polluted, and breath and saliva count as sources of impurity. When a priest tends the fire or performs certain rituals, he therefore wears a white cloth, the *padan* (Persian *padam*), over his mouth and nose. Lay worshippers do not approach the fire so closely.
Can anyone become a Zoroastrian priest?
Traditionally no. The priesthood is hereditary: only sons of priestly families may be initiated, and they are usually initiated as boys. Lay Zoroastrians, however devout, cannot become priests. Because many priestly sons now choose other careers, communities in India and abroad face a shortage of priests. Proposals to train lay men or women as assistant priests for some ceremonies have been tried in places and remain a subject of debate.
What is an Atash Behram?
An Atash Behram, fire of victory, is the highest grade of sacred fire. It is consecrated through long rituals from sixteen different kinds of fire, including fire from lightning, and must be tended by priests with the higher initiation. There are nine such fires: eight in India, at Udvada, Navsari, Surat and Mumbai, and one in Yazd, Iran. Lower grades are the Atash Adaran and the Dadgah, which can be kept in smaller temples.
Do Zoroastrians accept converts or women priests?
Both questions divide the community. Many Parsis in India hold that one must be born Zoroastrian, and orthodox priests do not perform initiations for converts; some priests in the diaspora and in Iran have done so. In Iran women have been trained as *mobedyar* since the early 2010s and perform some ceremonies, while tending the sacred fire remains reserved to male mobeds. Parsi orthodoxy does not recognise women as priests.
Sources and further reading
- Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices – Mary Boyce (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979)
- Zoroastrianism: An Introduction – Jenny Rose (I.B. Tauris, 2011)
- The Zoroastrian Diaspora: Religion and Migration – John R. Hinnells (Oxford University Press, 2005)
- A Persian Offering: The Yasna, a Zoroastrian High Liturgy – Firoze M. Kotwal and James W. Boyd (Association pour l'avancement des études iraniennes, 1991)