Note 21 — Pārsi or Zoroastrian Religion

Pārsi boys and girls are received into the Zoroastrian faith between the ages of seven and nine. The child is purified by being bathed, sipping bull’s urine and chewing a pomegranate leaf, and makes the profession of belief in the faith. He or she is then invested with the sacred shirt, sadra, and the sacred cord or thread called kusti. The shirt is of thin muslin, with short sleeves and falling a little below the hip. The sacred cord is of wool, and can be made only by the wives and daughters of Pārsi priests.21