groups. A fourth branch emerged in the eighteenth century as an offshoot
of the “Jacobite Syrians.” This “new” group followed the leadership of a
local bishop, one Mar Thomas Athanasius, and became an autonomous
church known as the “Mar Thoma” Christians, whose headquarters are in
Kerala itself.
The “Jacobite Syrians” tended to be more nearly “Catholic” in their
orientation. For example, they affirmed that tradition was as important as
the Bible in matters of interpretation; relics were venerated; communion
was understood more as a sacrifice than as a commemoration; their clergy
were not to marry. Further, they observed certain fasts and feasts, which were
regarded as “superstition” by the more nearly “Protestant” Mar Thomans.
Most of these groups, nonetheless, have appropriated customs from
their Indian or Hindu neighbors which were observed into the twentieth
century: there has been some use of horoscopes, especially in the case of
newborn babies; the ta ̄lihas been used to mark marriages; death pollution
was observed for ten to fifteen days; and there have been anniversary
ceremonies for the dead not unlike the Hindu s ́ra ̄ddharitual. In addition,
the rite of passage, known to Hindus as annapra ̄s ́ana(the first feeding of
solids to an infant of six months), was observed; intermarriage between
sects remains rare as some claim their ancestors to have been converted
brahmans or high-caste nayars (landowners). Indeed, in some settings, low-
caste persons were not permitted into the church premises well into the
twentieth century.
Zoroastrians or Pa ̄ rsı ̄s
Zoroastrianism started as a reform movement founded by an Iranian priest
namedZoroaster(the Greek term for Zarathustra), who probably lived in
the seventh century BCE. The religion was based on certain ancient Iranian
practices, which were similar to those found in Vedic India. There had been
a fire cult; the sacrifice of hoama, thought to have been the intoxicating
sap of a plant; the sacrifice of animals; a cult of twins leading to notions
of a cosmic dualism. In this ancient religion, certain forces of nature were
considered sacred, especially the sun, moon, earth, fire, water, and wind.
Varun.a and Mithra personified water and fire respectively and Ahura Mazda
came to be seen as ruler of the cosmos. Ahuras(good spirits) and daevas(bad
spirits) peopled the cosmos.^9
Zoroaster campaigned against the “excesses” of this ancient religion,
especially its polytheism, animal sacrifice, and intoxication by the priests
(magi) during hoamasacrifice. He established a form of monotheism which
posited that Ahura Mazda, the primal one, fathered twin spirits, Spenta
Mainyu, the demiurge or creator of all things good, and Angra Mainyu, the
168 Streams from the “West” and their Aftermath