The myth of the Damavand mountain in the contemporary Zoroastrian esotericism

Between the 19th and 20th centuries, the Parsi community in India experienced an ‘esoteric turn’ in response to the attacks of the Christian missionaries and to the Westernisation process. This response favoured, especially among the orthodox Parsis, the rise of esoteric interpretations of the Zoroastrian religion. In particular, Behramshah Shroff, a Parsi from Surat, started Ilm-e-Khshnoom in 1907, and Minocher Nusserwanji Pundol, a Parsi from Mumbai, began The Pundol Group in the 1970’s. Both these esoteric doctrines introduced beliefs which are very much in contradiction with the traditional tenets. Among them, the concepts of an impersonal and personal God, of reincarnation, and of a cyclical view of time. Furthermore, they encouraged a strict adherence to the Zoroastrian liturgy and emphasise the importance of reciting prayers in Avesta.
Ilm-e-Khshnoom and The Pundol Group share similar teachings and the same approach towards the ritual performance. Furthermore, when examining the source of such beliefs, both Shroff and Pundol claimed to have been initiated to the esoteric knowledge of Zoroastrianism by sages who were secluded in a community in the Damavand mountain, in Iran. This element is of particular significance when taking in consideration that the Damavand mountain covers a central role in the Persian mythology. In fact, on the one hand, it served as reference to mark the boundaries of the ancient kingdom of the divine hero Hoshang. On the other hand, the Damavand mountain was the mythical place which served as prison of the three-headed, three-jawed and six-eyed dragon Azhi Dahak as well as of the oppressive ruler Zahhak, both bounded respectively by Thraetaona and by Faridun.
By engaging with primary sources in Gujarati and the relevant scholarly literature, this paper will examine in which way Ilm-e-Khshnoom and The Pundol Group describe the myth of the community of the Zoroastrian masters secluded in the Damavand mountain. In particular, the presenter will identify narrative elements which characterise the stories of the initiations of Shroff and Pundol and will assess to what extent such elements could have been drawn upon and adapted from the Persian mythology. The paper will finally assess the hypothesis that the revival and adaptation of Persian mythology was part of the ethnic response of the orthodox Parsis to the social forces which threatened the identity of the Zoroastrians during the colonial period in India.