The heritage-listed J D Amaria Agiary at Marine Lines, a Parsi fire temple popularly known as the Sodawaterwala Agiary, celebrated its 150th anniversary on Monday.
Yesterday was also the Zoroastrian ‘All Souls Day’ when the community prayed for the souls of their departed. The day is observed on the Fravahar Roj or day of the Faravahar Mah or month. The agiary was founded on this day by the Amaria family.
Anahita Desai, trustee of the agiary who is also a trustee in the Bombay Parsi Punchayet, said there have been no representatives of the Amaria family in the trust for decades. “Not much is known about them, but they must have been in the business of manufacturing soda water. Everybody knows the agiary by the name, Sodawaterwala,” said Desai.
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Dinshaw Variava, another trustee, said that the Sodawaterwalas were philanthropists. The family is also believed to have built the Sodawaterwala Dharamshala used as a rest house by pilgrims to Udvada, Gujarat, the site of the community’s holiest shrine, the Iranshah. “Unfortunately, the family’s history is lost. There was very little information on the family when I joined as a trustee,” said Variava who added that there are nearly 48 fire temples in the city, most of them in the Fort area where Parsis were once concentrated. “There were more than a lakh Parsis in Mumbai and more fire temples were needed for rituals and prayers. Affluent Parsis built fire temples”.
A low birth rate and migration reduced the community’s population to less than half the peak numbers. As the number of worshippers at the Sodawaterwala agiary declined, it fell into disrepair. Water leaked from the terrace and vegetation was growing in the cracks on the structure. There are reports of corroded beams, broken windows, and a gloomy interior with broken plaster and peeling paint. The fire temple’s main source of income is a well in its compound that is tapped by water tankers. This income became unreliable after a ban on commercial extraction of well water.
Lack of funds stalled the repair plans until a generous donation in 2020 from the Buhariwala family set off a two-year-long restoration. Other donors, too, stepped in. The COVID epidemic, which broke out shortly, delayed the work. The restored shrine was inaugurated in 2022.
The fire temple is a Grade II structure under Mumbai’s urban heritage laws. “The sad part is the decline in the number of worshippers. There are also two Atash Behrams – highest-grade fire temples, in the vicinity. So, people preferred to hold prayers there. The Sodawaterwala agiary still gets worshippers on special days,” added Desai.
