Hyderabad: The population of 450 Parsi families in this city celebrates low Navroz, the new year of Parsi, on Monday because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
While ‘Jasshan’ (Thanksgiving Prayer Ceremony) was held in all fire temples throughout the city while following the appropriate Covid-19 behavior, the Parsi Community missed his annual meeting and dinner at Zoroastrian Club.
Instead, families celebrate the new year with traditional foods including Dhandar (Yellow Lentil), steamed white rice, and fried fish or patial shrimp (spicy curry).
They enjoy food with sweets made from sewages, swamps and yogurt.
“Every year, we all gather to celebrate today with a lot of enthusiasm.
However, this year, we must limit our celebration at home because of a pandemic.
People wear new clothes and visit the fire temple for Jashan,” said Beynaiz Edulji, a community member.
Before the new year, the community observed the muktad where they grieved because of the dead souls and thanked their ancestors.
“During this time, people will find all Parsi households will decorate flowers in silver vases dedicated to dead souls,” Edulji said.
The population reduced the community continues to be a concern because the number of Parsis in the city has dropped from 1,200 to 1,000 in recent years.
Elder from the community shows that the scheme of Jiyo Parsi encourages people from their community to have three children.