Fire Temples of Yazd

"Nothing is perfect," sighed the fox. But he came back to his idea. "My life is very monotonous," he said. "I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And in consequence, I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music out of my burrow. And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the colour of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat. . ."
The Little Prince

Persia was the birthplace of Zoroastrianism and many things, and even though Iran has come to embody a particular hue of Islam, you will see the winged figure at the heart of the ancient religion everywhere, from the pleasure house of the Shah's wife to the ruins of Persepolis to the fire temples of Yazd. One hand holds a ring, symbolising loyalty, the other is held up to show respect. The wings have three layers of feathers, reflecting the belief that you should think, speak and act decently.

There are still around 30,000 Zoroastrians in this city, stuck between Iran's two massive deserts, the Dosht-e Kavir and the Dosht-e Lut. Yazd is where you will walk up the Towers of Silence, set on two barren lonely hills outside the city. Zoroastrians beleive in the purity of the Earth, so will not bury their dead, nor will they cremate them for they worship fire. Instead, so as not to dirty the elements, dead bodies were left (and still are in places like Bombay) in the towers so that vultures could pick their bones clean.



© 2001–2008 p i n a k i