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Zoroastrianism

Fast Facts on Zoroastrianism
Adherents 200,000
History Based on teachings of Zoroaster in 6th cent. BCE Persia. Official religion of ancient Persia. May have influenced Judaism and Vedic religion.
Beliefs one God, Ahura Mazda, who has an evil opponent, Aura Mainyu; judgment after death; heaven and hell
Practices prayers; tending the sacred fire; coming of age rituals; burial by exposure in the Tower of Silence
Texts Zend Avesta

Overview of Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is the ancient, pre-Islamic religion of Persia (modern-day Iran). It survives there in isolated areas but primarily exists in India, where the descendants of Zoroastrian Persian immigrants are known as Parsis, or Parsees. In India the religion is called Parsiism.

Founded by the Iranian prophet and reformer Zoroaster in the 6th century BCE, Zoroastrianism contains both monotheistic and dualistic features. Although a fairly small religion today, numbering about 200,000 adherents, it shares many central concepts with the major world religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

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