Zoroastrian ritual life is woven around the preservation of purity and the alignment of human action with aša, the divinely ordered truth. Daily observances already express this orientation: adherents wear the white sacred shirt (sedreh/sudreh) and the cord (kusti/kushti), which is ritually retied during prescribed prayers at different times of day. These prayers are often offered facing a source of light or fire, underscoring the centrality of luminosity as a symbol of Ahura Mazda’s presence. Minor ablutions with water precede such devotions, so that the body and mind are ritually prepared for communion with the sacred. In this way, even the simplest acts of prayer become a continual recommitment to good thoughts, good words, and good deeds.

At the heart of communal worship stand the fire temples, where priests tend consecrated flames of different grades, including the highest, the Atash Bahram. Here, sandalwood and incense are offered, and Avestan prayers are recited in carefully maintained purity. The great liturgy known as the Yasna is performed by specially trained priests, involving offerings to the sacred fire and the preparation of the haoma drink, with the recitation of scriptural texts that sustain the relationship between the human community and the cosmic order. Other liturgical forms, such as blessing ceremonies (Afrinagan) and extended recitations for purity and protection, further articulate this bond between ritual action and the maintenance of aša.

Life-cycle ceremonies mark decisive thresholds in a person’s journey. The initiation rite, called Navjote (or Sedreh-pushi), formally admits a child into the religious community, investing them with the sedreh and kusti and entrusting them with the basic prayers of the tradition. Marriage rites, conducted before the sacred fire, include prayers, blessings, and the symbolic joining of hands, affirming the couple’s intention to build a righteous household. Death rituals, by contrast, confront the problem of impurity: the corpse is treated as polluting, and classical practice involved exposure of the body in Towers of Silence so that the elements and birds might dispose of it without defiling earth or fire, though burial or cremation is also found where such structures are not used. Around these moments, extended cycles of prayer and acts of purification surround both the living and the dead.

The ritual calendar further embeds the community in sacred time. Six seasonal festivals known as Gahambars commemorate stages of creation and are observed with communal prayers, shared meals, and acts of charity. The New Year festival, Nowruz, associated with the spring equinox, is marked by domestic and temple observances, including house cleaning, special tables, and the exchange of blessings. Other festivals such as Mehregan, Tirgan, Sadeh, and the period of Fravardigan for honoring the departed extend this rhythm of remembrance and renewal. Through all these ceremonies—daily, liturgical, life-cycle, and seasonal—Zoroastrian practice continually seeks to uphold purity, honor the sacred fire, and participate consciously in the struggle to sustain truth against the forces of chaos.