With the presence of mobeds and the mayor of London, as guest of honor, Ashu Zaratushtra’s birthday was celebrated at London Zoroastrian Center, accompanied by prayers and special messages, including the Nowrooz message of the prime minister of England, rishi Sunak.
The celebration began with prayers chanted by the priests. At the beginning the celebration prayers were performed in the big hall of the Zoroastrian Center, by four mobeds. Then, the head mobed held the ceremony of feeding the fire and enlarging it, where the prayers were recited.
The guest of honor was the mayor of London, Mr Ranji Chahoon, with his accompanying group. the mayor was the special speaker, who was present wearing the mayor’s red robe. He thanked the Zoroastrian Center for hosting the conference of religions a few months back. The mayor’s motto is unity in diversity, and he is happy that Zoroastrianism is active in England. The host of the program was Mr. Manshi, Secretary of the Board of Directors, and the first speaker was Mr. Malcolm Debo, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Zoroastrian Society of London. Mr. Debo talked about the history of the Zoroastrian Center and Nowruz.
The Nowrooz message by the British prime minister, a second generation Indian, was read by his representative: “Nowruz belongs to the Zoroastrians, who guarded it for centuries. Zoroastrians made a unique impact in India and will definitely be prominent in all Zoroastrian countries.”
At the end, the guests were treated to dinner and dessert.