Kushti

The kushti (ˈkuːʃtiː) also known as kosti, kusti and kustig is the sacred girdle worn by invested Zoroastrians around their waists. Along with the sedreh, the kushti is part of the ritual dress of the Zoroastrians. The Avestan term for the sacred thread is aiwyaongana. Kustig is the later Middle Persian term. The use of the kushti may have existed among the prophet Zarathushtra's earliest followers due to their prior familiarity with practices of the proto-Indo-Iranian-speaking peoples, and its Vedic analogue, the yajñopavita. Zoroastrian scripture and texts make various references to the usage of the Kusti. The Avestan Yasna (10.21) claims that a holy sage by the name of Haoma Frmi introduced it. Contrarily, the Dādestān ī dēnīg (39.18–19) claims that it was first used by the legendary Pishdadian ruler Jamshid (Yima xšaēta), centuries before Zarathustra was born. Later, Ferdowsi al-Tusi would repeat this story in the Shahnameh . Other myths claim that Zarathushtra himself recommended the practise to those who listened to his sermons (Rehbar-e Din-e Jarthushti 5). The kushti is worn wound three times around the waist. It is tied twice in a double knot in the front and back, the ends of the kushti hanging on the back. The kushti is made of 72 fine, white and woolen threads, which represent the 72 chapters of the Yasna, the primary liturgical collection of texts of the Avesta. The kushti also has 3 tassels, each with 24 threads, at each end. These 24 threads indicate the 24 chapters of the Visperad, and the sum of all tassels, which is six, represents the six gahambars (feasts). In both Iran and India, the kushti is usually produced by women from priestly duties. It has a dual function of a religious duty but also a necessity to augment the modest income of Zoroastrian clergy. Occasionally kustis, were woven by priests (mobads) themselves, though this is now exceedingly uncommon. Since the 1920s, non-priestly (behdin) Zoroastrian women in Yazd province in Iran, were trained in the procedure of weaving the kushti.