By Neena Bhandari
Sydney, 21.03.2010 (Women’s Feature Service): It’s a Sunday morning, a fire is burning on a silver urn in the sanctum sanctorum as about 30 children pray with a priest in the main hall of the Darbe Meher, place of worship and community activities for Zoroastrians, in the Sydney suburb of Annangrove.
Nestling amidst verdant surroundings with a tranquil billabong (pool of water) and fruit trees, the Darbe Meher has become the epicentre of learning and festivities for Zoroastrians, who have migrated to Australia from India, Pakistan and Iran since the 1960s.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ 2006 Census data, there are 2110 people (1156 males and 954 females) practising Zoroastrianism, the pre-Christian faith founded in Persia (Iran) by Prophet Zarathushtra who believed in a single God, Ahura Mazda.
