Embroidered Zoroastrian Pant Cuff

Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest existing religions in the world.  It is a monotheistic pre-Islamic religion, originally from Iran, that now survives in India, where contemporary followers are known as Parsees.

The traditional women’s garments are comprised of four important items: a pair of striped pants, a wide dress, a triangular hat and a large shawl.  We have an example of a Zoroastrian shawl in our gallery.

The multi-colored silk is placed on top of cotton and the embroidery is done on both, resulting in a durable cloth.  Since the Zoroastrians come from an agrarian culture the panels typically include motifs such as fish, birds and plants.