ABT. 11. PARSEE CEREMONIAL OBJECTS CASANOWICZ. 13 



chief priest then passes the kusti round the child's waist three times, 

 to remind the wearer of the three cardinal virtues of the Zoroastrian 

 religion, namely, good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and ties 

 it with four knots, two in front and two behind while chanting a short 

 hymn. At the first knot he says, " There is only one God, and no 

 other is to be compared with him." At the second, " The religion 

 given by Zoroaster is true." At the third, " Zoroaster is the true 

 prophet, who derived his mission from God." And the fourth, 

 "Perform good actions, and abstain from evil ones." After this 

 the candidate is reseated on the stool and the chief priest delivers the 

 Rosban^ a short sermon in praise of honesty, truth, and purity. This 

 over, he pronounces blessings upon the candidate, throwing over his 

 or her head small pieces of dry fruits, such as cocoanuts, almonds, 

 raisins, rice, etc. 



The investiture with the sudra and kusti initiates one into full 

 membership of the Zoroastrian community, entitling to being present 

 in all religious ceremonies and assemblies. And after having under- 

 gone the navzot ceremony the Zoroastrian has to put on the sudra 

 and kusti day and night; the performance of any function of life 

 without wearing these two sacred articles of dress is considered a- 

 sin, called " Running uncovered with sudra and kusti." The cere- 

 mony of untying and retying the kusti {jmdyah kusti) ^ reciting a 

 short prayer during the process, has to be performed several times 

 in the day; for instance, early in the morning on rising from bed, 

 before prayers, before meals, after ablutions, etc. 



If a child die before the performance of the ceremony of navzot, 

 he is considered to have gone back to Ahura-Mazda, who gave him, 

 as pure as he entered this world, having not reached the age of ac- 

 countability. — Bombay, India. (Plate 4, showing the ceremony of 

 investiture with the sudra and kusti, Cat. No. 230800, U.S.N.M.) 

 Gift of Eastamji Edulji Dastoor Peshotan Sanjana, Deputy High 

 Priest of the Parsees, Bombay, India. 



8. Costume of a Par see. — It consists of the sudra and kusti (see 

 under the preceding, No. 7), loose cotton trousers, an ample double- 

 breasted coat of cotton, reaching to the ankles, called jama; a belt, 

 called pichori^ made of cotton, about 1 yard wide and several yards 

 in length, which is folded once and passed round the waist as many 

 times as its length will admit; a pair of cotton gloves; a skullcap of 

 cotton ; and a turban peculiar to the Parsees. It is made of figured 

 chocolate-colored silk, stiffened, without any rim, and has an angle 

 from the top of the forehead. This costume is only used on formal 

 and solemn occasions. 



The dress of the priests is the same only that it is made solely of 

 white cotton cloth, including the turban.— Bombay, India. (Plate 

 5, Cat. No. 216056, U.S.N.M.) 



