MUYA’s Virtual Reality project ‘Living Zoroastrianism’ (SOAS) acknowledged at BAFTSS awards

Jo SalisburyNews Leave a Comment

The Multimedia Yasna Project (MUYA) has received special mention at the 2020 British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS) awards ceremony.  Their Virtual Reality project ‘Living Zoroastrianism‘, from Anna Sowa and AIIT trustee Almut Hintze, includes key scenes from the Yasna ritual as a virtual reality experience. AIIT trustee Almut Hintze (Zartoshty Brothers Professor of Zoroastrianism at SOAS) is Principal Investigator of the project The Multimedia Yasna, whose chief objective is an interactive film of the Yasna ceremony and editions with translations and commentaries of parts of the …

A Festschrift for John Hinnells

Ursula Sims-WilliamsBook Notes Leave a Comment

The Ancient and India Iran Trust was recently privileged to hold the launch and presentation of a festschrift to John Hinnells, formerly Professor of Comparative Religion at Manchester University and SOAS, to celebrate his seventy-fifth birthday. Holy Wealth: Accounting for This World and The Next in Religious Belief and Practice: Festschrift for John R. Hinnells, edited by Almut Hintze and Alan Williams (Iranica 24). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2017 The volume focuses on the interface between material and spiritual wealth, a theme that runs across many religions and cultures and that incorporates …

Jal Amrolia’s Gift to the Library

Ursula Sims-WilliamsStories from the Collection Leave a Comment

We were sad to hear last week of the death on 12 May of Jal Amrolia, a long-standing friend of the Ancient India and Iran Trust. Jal Edulji Amrolia was born in Zanzibar on 22nd August 1929 to Tehmina and Edulji Amrolia, one of three siblings with two sisters Khurshed and Sheru. He went to boarding school in Nargol, Gujarat, and then to Technical College in Surat where he met his future wife Banoo (Armin) whom he married in 1955. He returned to Dar-es Salam and got a job in …

‘The Multimedia Yasna’ Research Project Awarded Grant

Ursula Sims-WilliamsNews Leave a Comment

Good news for Zoroastrian and Avesta studies! AIIT trustee Almut Hintze, Zartoshty Brothers Professor of Zoroastrianism at SOAS University of London, has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Investigator Grant of just under €2.5 million (ca. £2 million) for a project on the Yasna, the core ritual of one of the most ancient and influential living religions, Zoroastrianism. The yazishn-gah (‘place of worship’), where the Yasna ritual will be filmed. Andheri Athornan Institute, Mumbai. Photo: Almut Hintze ‘The Multimedia Yasna’ (MUYA) focusses on the interpretation and ritual of …