The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-04-17
THE PARsEEs OF BOMBAY.
The Way the Fire worshipers Dispose Of
Their Dead.
[CorrespOndence New York TImes.l

Ine way the FIRE nOrSnlDer4 disclose At
Their Dead.
Correspondence New York Times.l
The Parsees are worshipers of fire, as the
symbol OF divinity, and when they came
from Persia they brought the sacred embers
with them and keep the fires burning per-
petually on their affairs. Fire being sacred.
they naturally worship the sun as the great
representative of divine power, but the sup
position that they worship the sun as that
power is incorrect They will not use fire
for any ignoble purpose, and, consequently,
it is not polite TO offer cigar to a Parsee;
they do not take offense if stranger smokes
in their presence, but any gentleman who
lives here and understands them would
quietly remove his cigar from his month
while conversing with = Parsee of his &C.
quaintance. They neither burn nor bury
their dead; their corpSes are exposed where
they can be eaten by the birds, and their
bones are swept into deep pat where they
remain until destroyed by the action of the
elements. On one of the highest bills of
Bombay are the so-called Towers of
Silence, where the bodies are thus exposed;
the name is free translation of the Persian
one, which literally rendered into English
means nothing more nor less than tomb"
Strangers are rarely admitted to the enclos
ure, and no Psrsee except the few employed
about the place may enter the towers.
Through the kindness of Mr. Cana, a
wealthy and prominent Parsee, was enabled
to see the towers, and had the advantage of
his personal guidance and explanation
We entered by strong gateway and over
paved path, which is the route of the
funeral professions The Enclosure has
high wall, over which it is impossible TO look
without scaling ladder. The yard is per
haps two acres in extent, and contains near
the entrance building, where is an altar
with the sacred fire and temple where
funeral parties come to pray and the priests
to change their apparel after the services are
over. There is neatly kept garden here,
which is tended by the employees of the place.
and from the windows of the temple there is
a fine view of the city, the BAY, and the sur
rounding country. The other structures in
the Enclosure are the famous towers, nine in
all, simple circular structures of plastered
masonry about 70 feet high and perhaps 30 in
diameter. In tn side of each is double
door of iron, where the bearers enter with
the bodies of the dead; in this door no
visitor, whether Christian, Hin6oo, or Parsee
may enter or even look, save as before stated
the priests and attendants. We were not
allowed to go nearer than within % yards of
the towers, and Mr.. Cana explained that the
prohibition extended to him as well as to
u.s. and should he violate it he would be
compelled to purify himself by careful alb
lutions and a change of apparel. This meas
ure was adopted, he said, to prevent the
spread of disease, and so great is the precau-
ton that the priests and bearers must per
form this abluiion and change after each
funeral ceremony. And while on the
subject he told me that this peculiar
form of sepulture was adopted, not from
any sentimental notion, but because it was
thought the most satisfactory. "Hindoos
burn their dead" said he, 'but we consider
fire sacred, and therefore it would be wrong
to compel it to perform such an ignoble
Office. The earth is the producer of the
fruits and vegetables upon which all people
live, in part at least and the burial of the
dead in il is a deilement and an injury.
Cemeteries are acknowledged everywhere to
be unhealthy, and MANY diseases arise from
them, and believe you have much aglta-
ton concerning them in Europe and Amer
leo. When a body is exposed here il is
quickly devoured, and there are none of. the
foul gases that arise from cremation or de-
composition, nor is the earth defiled in any
way. So we consider this the best way to
dispose of our dead"
As we approached the towers their uses
were pointed out. One was for murderers
and suicides, and was considered unconse-
Grated; the rest were alike, or so nearly so
that the differences were not essential. On
the tops of two or three towers, the ones
most in use, vultures were roosling and evil
IDENTIFY waiting eagerly for the arrival of
procession. There were, perhaps, so or more
i did not count them-and Mr. Cana said
there were others that were so fat and heavy
as to be unable to fly at all so that they re-
manned constantly within the towers. When
body is brought there IS stir among the
birds, and frequently they attack the bearers
in their eagerness to get at a corpse. So
violent are they at times that the bearers
are armed with sticks, and use them vigor-
ously. An hour after body has been placed
on the iron grating, and the bearers have
retired and closed the door, nothing but
bones remains, and the birds resume their
places to wait for the next arrival. The
funerals generally take place in the morning
just after sunrise, or in the afternoon just
before sunset; never at night, and rarely in
the middle OF the day.
] trust l have presented this subject in
manner as slightly disagreeable as it could
well be given. In the present discussion
about sepulture which is now going on in
various parts of the western world. the topic
is not without interest. have read several
accounts of the Parsee method of disposing
of their dead, but as all of them are incor-
rect. and some seriously so, | have thought
it well to devote little space to the subject.
So far as l have been able TO observe, the
Parsees are not at all fanatical on religious
subjects but they carefully preserve their
dress and original customs, and are evident
ly very earnest in their respect for them
selves and their ancestry. L. w. h.