Parsi thanksgiving ritual observed at home during Onam
KOZHIKODE: Members of the Marshall family, the only remaining Parsi Zarthusti household in Kozhikode, observed a Jashan — a traditional Zoroastrian thanksgiving prayer — at their home during Onam week, the family said. Two priests from Bombay conducted the rites, bringing the sound of traditional Parsi prayer to the city where the community once numbered in hundreds of families.
The Jashan is a thanksgiving ceremony offered to Ahura Mazda, the supreme deity of the Zoroastrian faith. The Marshall family chose Onam for the observance; the household has long celebrated Kerala’s harvest festival alongside their own faith traditions, the family said. Earlier, the family’s Jashan had occasionally been held during Vishu.
"As the only Parsi Zarthusti family now in Calicut, we miss our prayers and rituals. So when we got an opportunity to have two priests come to us from Bombay and bless us, the feeling is difficult to explain," the family said.
Priests travel from Bombay; home becomes temporary agiyari
Two priests, identified as Dastoorji Jamshed and Dastoorji Khursheed, travelled from Bombay to conduct the Jashan at the Marshall residence. The family noted that the Jashan is one of the rituals permitted to be performed outside an agiyari (the Parsi fire temple), and that hosting priests at home offered a rare opportunity to hear the full liturgy.
The ceremony was followed by a special lunch, preserving Parsi culinary elements alongside Onam traditions, the family said. Members described the occasion as both spiritual and communal — a moment to remember the departed and to renew ties to a faith now barely represented in the city.
- Community size: The family reported that only four members of the Parsi community now remain in Kozhikode.
- Ritual: Jashan performed at home; permitted outside the agiyari.
- Clergy: Two priests, Dastoorji Jamshed and Dastoorji Khursheed, conducted the prayers.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Family | Marshall family (last Parsi Zarthusti household in Kozhikode) |
| Ritual | Jashan (thanksgiving prayer to Ahura Mazda) |
| Priests | Dastoorji Jamshed, Dastoorji Khursheed (from Bombay) |
| Festival timed with | Onam |
The Marshall family identified themselves with both Parsi faith and Kerala culture; they said they are sometimes known locally as the "Mallu Parsis." For generations, Parsis in Kozhikode combined their religious observances with local festivals, an interweaving of identities that the family wished to preserve.
Members described the Jashan as a prayer both for the living and the departed, underlining the dual purpose of thanksgiving and remembrance. With only a handful of community members remaining, the logistics of maintaining traditional rituals in Kozhikode have become difficult; visiting priests and home ceremonies provide a way to sustain religious practice.
While the city once hosted many Parsi families, the community has declined markedly in Kozhikode over recent decades. The Marshall family's event during Onam underlines the wider questions of how small communities maintain continuity when migration and demographic change reduce local presence. For the Marshalls, the Jashan brought not only liturgical blessing but also a reaffirmation of the family's multi-layered identity — both Parsi and Keralite.
Those present said the ceremony reaffirmed ties to an ancient faith while also marking the family's long connection with Kozhikode's cultural life. With Onam drawing households across the state into festal hospitality, the Marshall family used the occasion to welcome priests and to revive a ritual now rarely heard in the city.
