Traditional chants are being provided on pen drives to help the young and old

With a decline in its population, the Parsi community is innovating to save its age-old traditions.

It has digitised its prayers, and Parsis can now plug in their earphones or tap their phone screens to learn them. The range covers advanced ones recited by priests to everyday chants for households.

The exercise aims to not just improve access for the young and the elderly, but to provide a reference for priests.

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“What we have created is an audiovisual mode of education,” said Ervad Sarosh Aibara, who came up with the idea along with another priest, Ervad Keki Ravji.

The compilation is available on pen drives, which can be accessed free.

Mr. Aibara said more than 100 prayers, including the shortest one of three lines, to one of the longest that goes on for about seven hours are available. The prayers are recited by Mr. Ravji.

Children can learn

Anahita Desai, chief executive, World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis, called it a great effort. “When a child has to memorise the Navjote prayers, he or she can now do it with the help of just this audio. The digitised version also has a video of the entire Yasna ritual, one of the most intricate ceremonies,” Ms. Desai said.

The World Zoroastrian Organisation (WZO) Trust has sponsored a video version. “We thought it was a great project, given that the number of Parsi priests has been declining. The compilation has some higher liturgical prayers,” WZO chairman Dinshaw Tamboly said.

Global projects

The Parsi effort matches other global projects to digitise traditions.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation runs the ‘Memory of The World Programme’ to preserve rare archival material. “There is a lot of recording taking place to preserve history and traditions. Institutions across the world are taking up projects,” said Shernaz Cama, director of the UNESCO Parzor Foundation, which works on Parsi Zoroastrian heritage.

A section of the community, however, does feel that it is best to keep the prayers in their most traditional forms. “There is some criticism. But I feel it is a fantastic idea to enable the old as well as the young to listen to the prayers on the move,” community member Binaifer Sahukar said.

After the inaugural on May 10, Mr. Aibara got more than 80 calls about the pen drive, some from as far as Australia and New Zealand.