It
is the first museum of its kind in the country.
The
museum was established by the Kerman Zoroastrians Society with assistance
from the Kerman Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department.
The
museum features exhibits of costumes and equipment used by Zoroastrians
during various periods of history and also displays some historical
Zoroastrian religious texts. In addition, a number of Zoroastrian customs
and religious ceremonies are depicted in the museum.
The
ceremony attendees also participated in Tirgan, a festival held annually
on the first day of summer for Tishtrya, the God of the Dog Star
protecting the clouds that brought rain. Zoroastrians also celebrate the
day because they believe that the legendary Persian hero Arash the Archer
demarcated the frontier between Iran and the neighboring kingdom of Turan
by shooting an arrow on that day.
At
the end of the war between Iran and Turan, the Turanians had advanced
close to the Mount Damavand area. The Turanians wanted to destroy the
spirit of the Iranian people, so they ordered Iranians to shoot an arrow
towards Turan, saying that wherever the arrow landed, that would be the
new border between Iran and Turan.
Iranian
national hero Arash volunteered to shoot the arrow. Arash was to shoot the
arrow from the peak of Mt. Damavand (Iran's highest mountain, 30
kilometers northeast of Tehran; height 5671 meters).
On
the bright morning of Tirgan, Arash faced north, strained his bow as never
before, let the arrow fly and, exhausted, turned into energy and rode with
the arrow. The arrow flew the entire morning and fell at noon -- 2250
kilometers away on the bank of the Oxus River in Central Asia.
The
river remained the boundary between Iran and Turan for centuries until the
Mongolian hordes poured in to push the Iranians southward in the 10th
century CE. Arash's body was never found. Travelers who became lost on the
mountain still tell stories claiming that they heard Arash's voice, which
helped them find their way and saved their lives.