The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-05-14
How the Parsees of India Dispose of
Their Dead.

What Beacon Hill is to Boston, Muir
ray Hill to New York, Mob Hill to San
Francisco, Malabar Hill is to Bombay,
Tor its aristocratic summit is closely dot
ted with the palaces and bungalows of
native princes and affluent Anglo-In-
dlans; but the borders of Malabar Hill
fall just upon the outskirts of the native
city on the one side and are Tapped by
the lazy ripples of the Indian Ocean on
the other. The climb up the hill from
the esplanade is picturesque to a de-
gree, and the well-kept lawns, the
broad, cool verandas inclosed with We
netlans peep out at one from unexpect-
ed perches on the side of the hill, with
swiftness of change suggestive of the
tricks OF the irrepressible Fakir. But
leaving them all below us we at last
reach the vicinity of "the towers of
silence" ~
From the midst of a grove of palms
rise two circular towers, near which
stands a large building looking not un-
like some public institution in any we'll
TODD city in America, but which is in
truth one of the temples which seem so
necessary to every Indian landscape.
The "towers of silence"-what does
not the fancy picture when the name is
heard for the first timep A religious
retreat, where one wearied with the din
and turmoil of the city below may find
peace and rest. Or perhaps it is de-
signed as place of punishment, and
persons caught in crime are brought
here to wear out in silence their term of
sentence, which will last till life iickers
feebly and hope dies. Away runs mag
lnation; but talkative " wallah." or.
literally speaking, fellow, who is our
guide, soon brings back wandering
fancy by the announcement that the
towers are in truth the Parsee cemetery
or mortuary.
Directly Parsee dies he is brought to
the temple, and then after the other rites
are performed the body is disrobed,
anointed with sacred oils; after that it is
taken to the towers, which are about 20
feet in diameter and entirely open at the
top, and then placed upon an iron graf
ing for the vultures to come and devour
the flesh. In every direction one can see
the majestic palms bending low with
their burdens of vultures and kites wait
Is AZ hO" PiOJ oAO oil I6SOuHuS WIN
their hungry cawing, while it is also
laden with the sickening odor of decay
ing flesh. While body is being placed
in position the edge of the tower is filed
with cawing, chattering spectators hun
cry to make the first plunge upon the
victim. With one accord they dash down
out of sight, and one knows by the
change from tumult to quiet that the
Parsee interment is taking place. That
which but short time ago was human
being, with hopes and fears and aspira-
tons such as still animate us who gaze
transfiXed with horror, is being torn
shred by shred and carried into the air.
to be dropped and picked up and quar-
relied over, or else to be consumed with
genuine satisfaction. No sooner does a
stated bird fly on lazy wing to some far
off tree top to sleep off the effects of his
gtuttony than fresh one arrives upon
the scene to carry on the hideous work.
Others swoop down upon us, the living,
and brush our very faces with their
noisome wings. Beside us stand some
Parsees, who watch the circling birds
with loving interest, and one English
speaking guide tells us that they fire.
quently stand and watch them till they
know their dead to have been consumed.
AS soon as the birds have cleaned all the
flesh from the bones, they are dropped
into a well at the bottom of the towers,
where they are covered with quick lime
and consumed. The tower is then flooded
and deodorized, and so, it is claimed,
there is no faint in the air, but any one
having the sense of smell unblunted feels
that that boast Is not founded upon
truth.
Night, which in India treads upon the
heels of day too closely for one to ever
taste twilight, drove us down the hill
and back into the thronged streets of
the city before we had watched as long
as we wished, but we had seen enough
to turn with sickening soul from the
religion which makes this awful custom
a necessity. We had stood beside the
Gauges and watched the Hindoos
sprinkling the ashes of their lately Gre
mated dead upon its sacred bosom The
tone, the quiet hour, the intense
had melted our cold West
ern hearts and we had wept from SYM
pathy. The HiDdoo and the Parsee
had each shown us how superior their
customs were to those practiced by
" Christian dogs,'' and we .had by 81
lence at least given consent to their
form of interment; but we came back
to our own belief in the grave and the
worm with renewed devotion, for we re-
that it was not from the
sacred bosom of the Ganges, neither was
it from the birds of the air, that we re-
ceived our Savior, but it was from the
grave that he came forth our risen Lord.
Cor. Springfield (MasS) Republican.
ssFuneral Conductors"