History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

150 HISTORY OF THE PARSIS. [CHAP. II.

manes of the dead, and are spent in reciting prayers and in performing ceremonies in memory of the departed. According to a passage in the Fravardin Yasht, the Frohars of the faithful Zoroastrians visit the houses of their survivors on earth for ten days and nights at the time of Hamaspathmadin, uttering this wish: ‘Who will praise us? who will offer us a “sacrifice ? who will meditate upon us? of which of us will the name be taken for invocation ? of which of us will the soul be worshipped by you with a sacrifice ?” These days are passed by the Parsis in prayers. The priests also offer prayers in memory of the dead.

Besides the holidays already described, the day having the same name as the month is distinguished from the other days of the month, and set apart for “ Jasan,” which means the performance of prayers and religious ceremonies in the presence of the whole community, among whom the fruit and flowers used during the ceremonies are at the end distributed. The more important and popular of these “Jasan ” days may be next described.

Fravardin Jasan.—Fravardin is the first month of the Zoroastrian year, and it is also the name of the nineteenth day of each of the twelve months. It is sacred in connection with certain ceremonies in honour of the dead. It is derived from the word “ fravashi ”

or “frohar,” in the Avesta, which means “protector.”

These protectors are omnipresent, being supposed to