The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-01-16
The Towers Of Silence.

The Towers of Silence.
On the northeast crest of Malaba
Hill, in the Presidency of Madras. mr.,
situated the famous Towers of Silence
There are two approaches to the exten.
sive tract of ground on which thew mr.,
built. From the Gowalia Tank road
toward the north winding avenue Of
recent construction leads to the pate-
way at the top, on which is an inscriD-
tiOn that none but Parsees may enter
there. This prohibition was rendered
necessary, IL is said, by the unseemlv
and inconsiderate conduct of those who
used formerly TO be admitted within the
Enclosure. The gateway is also reached
by sort of giant staircase, half a mile
long, which, starting from the
Gaumdavi road close to Bacl, Raw
comes almost straight up the hii.
The visitor, who has obtained per-
mission to disregard the notice at the
entrance, will find on passing the portals
that he is in kind of small courtyard
from which he can only advance bv
mounting some half-doZen stems on
the right is the Suggree, a low stone
building, open on all sides, in which
prayers are offered for the dead. The
chief object of having the courf-var,I
I lower than the level on which the Suo-
! gree is built is to prevent the ceremo-
nies from being profaned by the gaze of
unbelieving eyes. When the mo1rnars
are numerous they group themselves
around the building, aud, from its being
open, they can, of course, see all that
goes on within, and take part i'm the
/ prayers. The dead, it should he men
toned, are never taken within the Sug-
gree. Between the Suggree and the
/ garden Is l7rge and handsome build
ing, with arched roof, designed to super
cede the present Suggree, which is found
70 be inconveniently small. Passing
this new erection, we enter a beautiful
garden, ablaZe with flowers, among
which roses are conspicuous. Along the
walks are iron garden-seats of elegant
structure and European make. Here
the relatives of the dead rest after the
toilsOme ascent of the basalt staircase,
and on subsequent occasions come to
pray. Beyond the garden, on the un-
dulating summit of the hill looking to-
ward Malabar Point, is the park-like
grass-covered tract in which, at irregu-
lar intervals, are the Towers Of Silence.
where the dead are laid The towers, of
which there are six, are round, and on
an average from thirty to forty feet
high, and about as much in diameter;
one or two are perhaps higher. They
are solidly built Of stone, the walls be
ing some three feet thick, and they are
all colored white. There is no window,
and only one door, covering a small
aperture about q third of the way up.
To this aperture access is obtained by a
narrow stone cauSeway, up which the
dead and the bier-bearers alone may
venture. So sacred are the towers that
no one except the bearers, who are set
apart for the purpose, may approach
within thirty PAGES of them. Inside on
the rock pavement spaces are marked
out, on which the dead are placed to
await the vultures, and pathways are
marked out for the bearers to walk upon
without deliling the place where their
unconscious burdens are to rest.
When a Parsee dies his soul goes to
heaven, but his body must not be
tainted by corruption. Therefore it is
at once washed and purified, and if there
be yet time it is at once carried to the /
towers before sundOwn. If death takes
place, however, after, say, three O'Clock,
when there would not be time to gain !
the towers and pray becomingly before !
dark, the body is kept till the early
morning. Having been rendered unde- /
II
are offered at the house by the family
and friends. None may henceforth /.
touch it; it is pure, and must so remain. /
The women of the family take last
look, and the light bier on which it has |
been placed being covered with a white /
shroud, it is carried by the bearers to |
the hill. No vehicle can on any account /
he used; 10 one must even follow in a I
vehicle; the whole journey, no matter /
what the distance, must 'be made on I
foot. All who form part of the cOrtegc /
must have been washed and purified |
and clothed in white, aud to touch any /
one would be to become defiled. The |
women in some cases wear mourning
black-but the men never. No woman |
attends funeral; the female relatives /
Of the dead always remain at home on /
that day, but they may go afterward to /
the garden near the towers to pray.
Carrying the body and following it in |
procession, holding scarfs passed from l
one side to the other, those forming the |
eortege wend their way slowly to the /
foot OF the steps leading to the top of
the Malabar Hill. Laboriously ascend /
ing these, they reach the crest in a
quarter of an hour, and the priests 90
through the sacred ceremonies in the I
Suggree. Some Parsees consider that I
the prayers thus rendered have the eff ]
feet of averting all decomposition or
other defilement. When the prayers \
are over, and those who have come the I
long and weary journey are somewhat
rested, the body is borne to the foot OF
the causeway leading to the door of one
Of the towers. Here the face is uneov-
cred, so that all may take last linger-
ing look; it is covered again, and the
form disappears into the tower.
Were there not serious miseOncep-
tions to be removed, we would not seek
further to penetrate these mysteries; but
as stories in which there is more of hor-
rOr than of fact are rife among those
who know absolutely nothing of what
really takes place, it is better that the
truth should be fully told. The towers
are scattered over large and park-like
lnclosure, secluded by its elevation from
every eye. Outside the lofty wall !
which encircles the whole space there .
are hundreds of acres of land, partially I
which the Parsees claim, and I
which while in their possession they /
have carefully kept as sort of neutral |
territory between the domain of,outsid- |
ers' bungalows and that of the towers !