Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-06-07
IF dead stone. bI1t of living vl1|tl1ras

perfect order and in complete circle
around the parapets Of the towers,
With their heads pointing inwards, and |
70 lazily did they sit there, and SO mo-
ionless was their whole mein, that. ex-
,ept for their color, they mi ght have
oeen carved out of the stonework. So
much for the external aspect of the
celebrated Towers Of Silence. After
hey have been once consecrated by
solemn cere monies, no one except the
is allowed to enter; nor
S any one, not even a Parsee High |
Priest, permitted to approach within 80
FEET of the Immediate precincts. An
exact model of the interior was, howev-
or, shown to me.
Imagine round column of massive
cylinder II or IA feet high, and at least
40 feet in diameter, built throughout
of solid stone, except in the center,
where a well five or six feet across leads
down to an excavation under the ma
sonry, containing four drains at right |
angles to each other, terminated by
holes filled with charcoal. Round the
upper surface of this solid circular
cylinder, and completely hiding the
interior from view is stone parapet,
10 to IL feet in height This it is which
when viewed from the outside, appears
to form one piece with the solid stone
work, and being, like it, covered with
chunam, gives the whole the appear
ance of low tower. The upper sur
face of the solid stone column is di-
vided into seventy-two compartm ents,
or open receptacles, raoiating like the
spokes of wheel from the central we'll
and arranged in three concentric rings,
separated from each other by narrow
ridges of stone, which are grooved to
act as channels for conveying all mois-
ture from the receptacles into the we'll
and into the lower drains. It should
be noted, by the by, that the number
- is mathematical of Zoroaster's
three precepts, and the number TO- of
the chapters of the Yasna,-a portion
of the Zend-Avesta.
Each circle of open stoae collins is
divided from the next by pathway, so
that there are three circular pathways,
the last encircling the central well, and
these three pathways are crossed by
another pathway, conducting from the
solitary door which admits the corpse
bearers from the interior. In the out
ermost circle of the stone collins are
placed the bodies of males, in the mid
die those of females, and in the inner
and smallest circle, nearest the well,
those of children.
While 1 was engaged with the secre-
tary in examining the model, a sudden
stir among the vultures made us raise
cur heads. At least a hundred birds
collected round one OF the towers be-
gan to show symptoms of excitement,
while others swooped down from neigh
boring trees. The cause of this sudden
abandonment of their previous apathy
soon revealed itself. A funeral was
seen to be approaching. However dis
tant the house of deceased person,
and whether he be rich or poor, high
or low in rank, his body is always car
ried to the towers by the official corpse
bearers, called Nasasalar, who form a
distinct class, the mourners walking be-
hind. AS the bearers are supposed to
contract impurity in the discharge of
their duty, they are forced to live apart
from the rest of the community, but
are well paid.
Before they remove the body from
the house where the relatives are as
sembled, funeral prayers are recited,
and the corpse is exposed to the gaze
of dog, regarded by the Parsees as a
sacred animal. This latter ceremony
is called Sagdid.
Then the body, swathed in a white
sheet, is placed on curved metal
trough, open at both ends, and the
corpse-bearers, dressed in pure white
garments, proceed with it toward the
towers. They are followed by the
mourners at a distance of at least 80
feet, in pairs, also dressed in white, ann
each couple joined by holding a white
handkerchief between them. The par
ticular funeral [ witnessed was that of
a child. When the two corpse-bearers
reached the path leading by steep in
cline to the door of the tower, the
mourners, about eight in number,
turned back and entered one of the
prayer houses.
"There," said the secretary, "they
repeat certain Gathas, and pray that
the spirit of the deceased may be safe
ly transported on the fourth day after
death to it's final rest"
The tower selected for the present
funeral was one in which other mem
bers of the family had before been
laid. Two bearers speedily unlocked
the door, reverently conveyed the body
of the child into the interior, and, I'M
seen by any one, laid it uncovered in
one of the open stone receptacles near
est the central WE'LL In two minutes
they reappeared with the empty bier
and white cloth; and scarcely had they
closed the door when dozen vultures
swooped down upon the body, and were
rapidly followed by others. It five
minutes more we saw the satiated birds
fly back and lazily settle down again
upon the parapet. They had left
nothing behind but a skeleton. Mean.
while the bearers were seen to enter q
shaped like huge barrel.
There, as the Secretary informed me,
they changed their clothes and washed
themselves. Shortly afterwards wesaw
them come out and deposit their cast
off funeral garments on stone recep-
table near at hand. Not a. thread leaves