Parsi (Zoroastrian) Prayers

Vohu Manah is the Avestan language term for a Zoroastrian concept, generally translated as “Good Purpose”, “Good Mind”, or “Good Thought”, referring to the good state of mind that enables an individual to accomplish their duties.

A Zoroastrian Tower of Silence, also known as a dakhma, is a circular, raised structure used for excarnation, the exposure of dead bodies to carrion birds (like vultures) for natural decomposition, a practice rooted in Zoroastrian beliefs about purity and avoiding contamination of the elements.

Hormazd Khorday is one of the Zoroastrian daily prayers. In translation, it means “homage be to right thought and prosperity.”

The Gathas are 17 hymns in the Avestan language from the Zoroastrian oral tradition of the Avesta. Gathas are recited as prayers, one on each of the five Gatha days, which occur at the end of the Parsi calendar year.

The following text, which has with some justice been likened to the Christian “creed”, probably dates to the earliest days of Zoroastrianism, but seems to have undergone linguistic changes, because it is known in the relatively late Old Avestan language.