The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1675 page)

see
DANCE
.

 
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(generally interpreted as ‘new birth’). The
Zoroastrian
initiation ceremony. The central conviction behind Zoroastrian ethics is the emphasis on human free will. Initiation, therefore, cannot take place until a child is old enough to choose for him/herself, usually seen as just before the age of puberty. Prior to the ceremony, the initiate has a ritual bath (
nahn
) inwardly cleansed by a sip of
nirang
(consecrated cow's urine). Fundamentally the rite consists of the investiture by the priest (
magi
) with the sacred shirt and cord, the
sudre
and
kusti
(sometimes referred to as the ‘armour of faith’) and the first ritual recital of the associated prayers which the initiate should henceforth offer five times daily.
The
sudre/kusti
prayers are one of only two compulsory religious duties in Zoroastrianism. The other is observance of the
gahambar
(
festivals
). The
sudre
is made of cotton and is worn at all times next to the skin, like a vest. It is white to symbolize purity and has a small pocket at the front of the ‘V’ neckline in which the faithful are exhorted to store up good thoughts, words, and deeds. The
kusti
is a long lamb's wool cord, tied around the waist (unlike the brahman cord, both of which presumably originated in Indo-Iranian religion).

 
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see
DANCE
.

 
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see
FESTIVALS AND FASTS
.

 
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(New Dispensation proclained by K. C. Sen to supplant Christianity): see
SEN, K. C.

 
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