Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-06-07

Of Their Dead-A Description of the
Funeral Customs of the Parsees at Bonn
bay.
London Times.
Mr.. Monier Williams, Boden Profess
,or of Sanskirt, writing under date Bel
videer, Calcutta, favors us with the fol-
lowing highly interesting account of
what may be called, though the express
sion scarcely applies, the Parsee "Cem-
etery' in Bombay:
"At time when the attention of the
British public is attracted irresistably |
towards the. Queens Indian Empire
short account of visit I have la.ely
paid to the Parsee Tower of Silence
may possibly be read with interest,
Your columns have probably already
contained record of the Prince of
Wales visit to the same locality, and
the kindness of Sir Jamsetiee
the very same privileges of
inspection which his Royal Highness
enjoyed were accorded to me.
Your readers are doubtless aware that
the Parsees are descendants of the an
cient Persians who were expelled from
Persia by the Mohammeden conquer
ors, and who first settled at Surat about
l, 100 years ago. According to the last
census they do not number more than
10000 souls, of whom about $4,000 are
found in the city of Bombay, but chief
ly in Guzerat and the Bombay Presi-
dency. Though a mere drop in the
ocean of 24O,O0O,OOO inhabitants, they
form a most important and influential
body of men, emulating Europeans in
energy and enterprise, rivaling them in
opulence, and initiating them in many
of their habits. Their vernacular Ian
guage is Guzerati, but nearly every ad-
ult speaks English with fuency, and
English is now taught in all their
schools. Their benevolent institution
for the education of at least 1000 boys
and girls is in a noble building, and
is model of good management. Their
religion, as delivered in its original
purity by their prophet Zoroaster, and
as propounded in the Zend-Avesta, is
monotheistic, or, perhaps, rather pan
theistic, in spite of its philosophical
dualism and in spite of the apparent
worship of fire and the elements, re-
garded as visible representations of the
Deity. Its morality is summed up in
three precepts of two words each,-
good thoughts good Words good
deeds of which the Parsee is con-
stantly reminded by the triple coil Of
his white cotton girdle. In it's origin
the Parsee system is allied to that of
the Hindu Aryans,-as represented in
the Veda,-has much in common with
the more recent Brahmanism. Neither
religion can make proselytes.
A man must be born Brahman or
a Parsee; no power can convert him
into either one or the other. One nota-
BILE popularity, however, distinguishes
Parseeism. Nothing similar to its
funeral rites prevails among other ma
tons; though the practice Of exposing
bodies on the tops of rocks is not UNI
usual among the Buddhists of Bhotan.
The Dakhmas, or Parsee Towers of
Silence, are erected in a garden, on the
highest point of Malabar hill, a beauti-
full rising ground on one side Of Black
Bay, noted for the bungalows and COM
pounds of the European and wealthier
inhabitants of Bombay scattered in
every direction over its surface.
The garden is approached by q we'll
constructed private road, all access to
which, except to Parsees, is barred by
strong iron gates Thanks to the ON
nipotent Sir Samsetjee, no obstacles i'm
peded my advance. The massive gates
few open besore me as if by magic. I
drove rapidly through a park-like in
closure, and found the courteous Secre-
tary of the Parsee Punchaval, Mr. Nus
serwanjee Bryamjee, awaiting my ar
rival at the entrance to the garden. He
took me at once to the highest point in
the consecrated ground, and we stood
together on the terrace Of the largest of
the three Sdgis, or Houses Of
Prayer, which overlook the five Towers
of Silence. This principal Saq1 con-
tains the sacred fire, which, when once
kindled and consecrated by solemn
ceremonial, is fed day and night with
incense and fragrant sandal, and never
extinguished. The view from this spot
can scarcely be surpassed by any in the
world. Beneath us lay the City OF Bonn
bay, partially hidden by coeoanut
groves, with its beautiful bay and har-
Dor glittering in the brilliant December
light. Beyond stretched the magnif-
cent ranges of the ghauts, while imme-
diately around us extended a garden,
such as can only be seen in tropical
countries. No English nobleman's gar
den could be better kept, and no pen
could do justice to the glories of it's
Towering shrubs, expresses, and palms.
It seemed the very ideal, not only of a
place of sacred silence, but of peaceful
rest.
But what are those five circular struc-
lures which appear at intervals rising
mysteriously out of the foliage? They
are simply masses Of masonry, massive
enough to last for centuries, built of
the hardest black granite, and covered
with white chunam, the purity and
smoothness of which are disfgured by
patches of black fungus-like incrusta-
tons. Towers they scarcely deserve to
be called; for the height of each is
quite out of proportion to it's diameter.
The largest of the five, built with such
solid granite that the cost of erection
was three laos of rupees, seemed about
forty feet in diameter and not more
than twenty-five feet in height. The
oldest and smallest of the five was con-