India, March 28 -- MUMBAI The only museum in the world dedicated to Parsis and Iranian Zoroastrians - the FD Alpaiwalla Museum - was thrown open to public on Thursday at Khareghat Colony, Babulnath. A space housing archeological and ethnographic collections, it reflects the community's rich cultural, religious and sartorial history.

The Parsis (Zoroastrian Iranians) who fled their homeland fearing religious persecution between the eight and tenth centuries, arrived at the western shores of India; over time more people from the community followed. "We adapted to living in Surat, Navsari and Valsad, and learnt to speak the language. The women were educated," said Dr Pheroza Godrej, art historian, explaining that there were essentially two ...