How to Plan a Zoroastrian Funeral Without a Local Fire Temple

If there is no Agiary within driving distance, you can still plan a Zoroastrian funeral that honours every essential element of the tradition. The fire temple provides sacred space and consecrated fire, but the funeral prayers themselves do not require a temple — the Geh Sarna, the Sachkar, and the four-day prayer cycle can all be performed in a funeral home chapel, a private residence, or a community hall, provided the space is set up correctly and two officiating mobeds are available.

What changes without a fire temple is the logistics around that space, and those logistics are where families get blindsided.

The Three Things a Fire Temple Provides (and How to Replicate Each)

1. A Consecrated Space Oriented Away from North

In an Agiary, the prayer hall's orientation is fixed. In a Western funeral home, it is not. The body must never be laid with the head pointing North — the North is associated with Ahrimanic forces in Zoroastrian cosmology. Before booking a funeral home chapel, you (or the funeral director) need to confirm the room layout allows the body to be positioned with the head not pointing North.

What to do: Bring a compass or use the compass app on your phone. Confirm the positioning with the funeral director before the body is moved into the room. The Zoroastrian (Parsi) Funeral Guide includes a Funeral Director Briefing Sheet you can hand directly to the mortician — it covers spatial orientation, access restrictions, and handling rules.

2. Separation Between Sacred and Profane Zones

A fire temple naturally separates the inner sanctum from the outer areas. During the four-day prayer cycle, non-Zoroastrians are excluded from the area immediately around the body (the space inside the Kash circle). In a funeral home, you need a room with a door that closes — not an open-plan viewing area — so the family can maintain the Kash boundary without physically blocking public hallways.

What to do: When calling funeral homes, ask whether they have a private room that can be closed off for the duration of the ceremonies (potentially up to four days if the body remains there between prayers). Explain that certain family members and visitors will need to remain in a separate waiting area during specific rituals.

3. Access to Ritual Materials

An Agiary stocks divo (oil lamps), sandalwood, loban (frankincense), and the afargan (fire vase). Without a temple, the family must source these independently. In cities with a Zoroastrian population, a local association may maintain a kit. In smaller cities, you are sourcing from Indian grocery stores and online suppliers under time pressure.

What to do: Keep a materials checklist and start sourcing within the first hour. The critical items are: 6–7 men's Sudrehs to line the iron bier, 2–3 clean white cotton sheets, a used, washed Sudreh and lenga for body preparation, a clean towel, a Kusti, a divo with oil or ghee, an afargan or heat-safe metal vessel for fire, sandalwood and loban, a metal tray with chalk or ash (for drawing the Kash), cologne water, and rose water for the Uthamna.

The Ceremony Sequence Without a Temple

The ritual structure does not change. What changes is who performs each step and where.

Sachkar (body wash): Traditionally performed by nasasalars (consecrated corpse-bearers). In the diaspora, the immediate family — guided by a mobed if available — can perform the Sachkar. The body is traditionally washed with taro or gaomez (consecrated bull or cow urine) and water; when those materials are unavailable, follow local mobed guidance. It is dressed in a used, washed Sudreh and white pyjama or lenga, with the Kusti tied around the waist, and placed on clean sheets within the Kash boundary.

Sagdid: The ritual viewing of the body by a "four-eyed" dog — a dog with two spot markings above its eyes. This is performed at the transition of each Geh watch while the body remains in the home or bungli to confirm physical death and repel the Nasu demon. In countries where bringing a dog into a funeral home is impractical or prohibited, diaspora communities have adapted by omitting the Sagdid or using a symbolic alternative. Consult your mobed — this is one of the most common adaptations, and practice varies.

Geh Sarna: The main funeral prayer, performed by two mobeds maintaining physical contact through a shared handkerchief (paiwand). The Geh Sarna does not require an Agiary — it can be recited in any clean, properly oriented space.

Four-day prayer cycle: From death through the Uthamna on the morning of the fourth day, prayers are recited at each of the five Geh watches. Without a temple, these are performed wherever the body is held — or, if the body has already been cremated or buried, at the family home or a hired community space.

Disposition Without a Dakhma

In much of the global diaspora, there is no operational Tower of Silence (Dakhma). The three disposition options are:

1. Aramgarh (concrete-lined grave): Available in some communities with Zoroastrian cemetery sections. The concrete lining prevents the body from touching sacred earth directly.
2. Electric cremation: Accepted by reformist communities. Orthodox theology considers cremation a desecration of fire, but some reformist communities perform full funeral rites before electric cremation.
3. Repatriation to India: Rarely practical given the Zoroastrian requirement for rapid disposition, but some families pursue it for burial at a Mumbai or Pune Aramgarh.

This is the most emotionally charged decision in any diaspora funeral. If your family has not discussed it in advance, expect disagreement. The guide does not tell you which to choose — it documents the theological position on each side and provides a framework for the family conversation.

Who This Is For

• Families in cities with no Agiary, no Zoroastrian cemetery section, and no local mobed — essentially building the infrastructure from scratch
• Second-generation diaspora Parsis and Iranian Zoroastrians coordinating a funeral for the first time without elder guidance
• Families whose usual Agiary is in another city and need to handle the first 12-24 hours locally before the mobed arrives

Who This Is NOT For

• Families in Mumbai with direct Punchayet access — the BPP infrastructure handles exactly these logistics
• Families looking for a theological argument for or against cremation — the guide presents both positions but does not adjudicate

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the Geh Sarna be performed in a funeral home?

Yes. The Geh Sarna requires a clean space, correct body orientation (head not pointing North), and two mobeds. It does not require an Agiary. Many diaspora funeral services are performed in funeral home chapels with the room arranged to meet these requirements.

What if I cannot find a mobed in my city?

Contact your regional Zoroastrian association (FEZANA in North America, ZTFE in the UK, Zoroastrian Association of Victoria in Australia). Some mobeds travel for funeral services. In urgent cases, a mobed may guide the family through initial prayers by phone or video while arranging to arrive for the Geh Sarna.

Is it acceptable to skip the Sagdid?

Many diaspora communities omit the Sagdid because of the practical impossibility of finding the right dog and bringing it into a funeral home. Some families perform a symbolic version at home. This is one of the most commonly adapted rituals, and your mobed can advise on your community's practice.

How do I set up a divo that stays lit through the first three days in a funeral home?

Use a deep metal vessel with ghee or oil and a cotton wick. Discuss with the funeral home in advance — many have policies about open flames. Battery-operated lights are not a traditional substitute, but some families use them as a backup when the funeral home prohibits real flame. Clarify this before the body arrives.

The Zoroastrian (Parsi) Funeral Guide walks through every step from the first phone call to the annual memorial, with print-ready worksheets for funeral director briefings, materials sourcing, ceremony timelines, and family conversation scripts — designed for the family that has to build the infrastructure themselves.