As the number of priests continues to
dwindle, the role of the behdin pasban is
under considerable scrutiny
Farrokh Jijina
When the concept of a lay person or behdin assisting a mobed in his priestly duties was first publicly mooted at The Federation of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India (FPZAI) meet in May 1983 the suggestion was welcomed. Lay people would be trained to alleviate the shortage of priests, especially in the mofussil areas. They could conduct a few ceremonies barring weddings and navjotes, elaborated Peshotan Nargolwala of the Iranian Zoroastrian Anjuman (see "The resurgence of the Federation,” Parsiana, July 1983). He likened the paramobeds to para medics and the barefoot doctors in China in the mid-1900s. During the......