Where are the Zoroastrians? (Freddie Mercury was one.)

Where were the Zoroastrians - and where are they now?

The Zoroastrians are 'hiding in plain sight'. Freddie Mercury was one.

They left Persia (now called Iran) after being persecuted under the regime of their time and seeking better living conditions and economy for India where they were known as Parsi, meaning Persian.

Freddie was from a Zoroastrian family. Their religion's only known burial place is an area of Brookwood cemetery in the UK. Freddie could be buried there or in the garden of his home which he left to his ex-wife.

Statue in Montreux, Lake Geneva, Switzerland

BACK GARDEN BURIALS
You can do back garden burials in the UK. I researched this when my parents died. The burial place has to be at least about 80 feet from the back of your house - and any nearby houses, and avoiding water supplies.  So no good if you have a short garden. Also no good if you have a long enough garden but the houses backing onto yours are near your back boundary. If you are interested, check up on the latest regulations in your country.

What can you see?
1 Plaque in London, England
2 Statue in London, England, above the Dominion Theatre
3 Statue in Montreux, Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Useful Websites
https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/who-are-zoroastrians
visitengland.
visitbritain
visitlondon
wikivoyage
wikipedia
wikitravel
tripadvisor
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/iran
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Iran.html

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Freddie Mercury, Statue, Burial Place? Brookwood Cemetery, Kensal Green and Zoroastrian Sites to Visit

I first came across the Zoraoastrian sites when I was in Bombay (now called Mumbai) in India. A guided tour took me past the Towers of Silence where Parsees are not buried but suspended on trees to feed the birds and return to nature.

My interest was revived recently when  I saw a film about Freddie Mercury on Singapore Airlines on a flight to Heathrow in London. Freddie was a baggage handler at Heathrow, before he became famous as the singer frontman  of the band Queen.

I read that he was buried by his ex-wife in a secret place, known only to her. When I started researching Freddie's religion, Zoroastrianism, I learned that it was monotheistic.

Curious to know where to go to see and learn more, I tried a google search of Wikivoyage combined with Zoroaster. Up pops the Towers of Silence site in Mumbai. Persia has several notable sites.

Finally, the UK provides a burial section for the Zoroastrians, and several other minority religions, in the vast Brookwood Cemetery, relatively unknown nowadays, although in Victorian times it was the largest cemetery in the world with a regular train service carrying coffins and mourners. I had read about this cemetery when researching for my blog on visiting cemeteries in England, Scotland and worldwide.

When I first read about Freddie being cremated and his ashes scattered, I thought, maybe the sea, or Switzerland which has his statue by Lake Leman in Montreux.

However, now that I have read that the Zorastrians have one cemetery in the UK, that seems to be the logical place.

He is said to be commemorated under an assumed name. So even if I and the rumour are right, there's nothing to see, no stone, and the ashes either buried or cast to the winds (generally forbidden in cities in case your ashes blow over somebody else's white t-shirt or just cause dust.)

However, you might wish to see the place where Zoroastrians are buried. Maybe some of his family and friends are buried here. Apparently his grandmother is buried here.

However, he was cremated at Kensal Green cemetery.

You might wish to include in a Freddie Mercury Sites tour:
His plaque in London.
Kensal Green Cemetery.
Brookwood Cemetery.
Montreux in Switzerland.

https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/freddie-mercurys-final-resting-place-discovered/
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/iran

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my previous posts on cemeteries, and Freddie Mercury. Please share links to your favourite posts.