The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-21
IN A TOWER OF SILENCE.
The Horrible Death VultuTeS Kept for
Parse 0bSeQuieS.


Sanitary Precautions for the Return
Perfect-No Friend May Attend the
Dead Into the Chamber of Disso1u-
tion Alone With the Attendants
and the Ravenous Birds.
From the Pail Mall Budget
1t was in Bombay, on bright Sabbath
day, that l first saw tower of silence.
We drove from the sunny Apollo Bunder
through the cool, green park-past the
statue of the queen-the most beautiful
statue of Queen Victoria that has ever
been executed. l must own felt little
frightened. I had heard so much from
Anglo-Indians about the horrors of the
Parsee method of entombment that
in spite of my perhaps morbid
| desire to see and understand
all the characteristic phases of east
ern life, 1 was almost nervous as
we drove to the outer gate of the beauti-
full gardens that inclose the last resting
place of the Parsees who die in Bombay,
| The dokhma-give to the correct name
to the round Parsee sepulchers that we in
our easy Anglo Indian fashion call towers
Of silence-the dokhma is always placed
| on high ground. The sanitary reasons for
| this are very obvious. In Bombay there
are three towers. They were built at
different periods and mark the increase in
| Bombay of Parse aff1uence and of Parsee
numbers. The oldest and smallest was
built soon after the followers of Zoroaster
had fed from Persia to Ind.
h These Parsee mortuaries were in every
FAWay different from what had imagined
| them. But after having seen what they
| really are my utmost philosophy revolts
and sickens at the thought of the poor,
| dead body, torn as 1t is, by the claws and
beaks of the human-fesh-fed vultures.
| But that the Parsee disposition of the
| dead is anything but healthy.
| dispute. And the surroundings
and situation of the Bombay dokhmas are
| dignitied and beautiful. When our car
riage stopped we walked up a gradual
rise, gravel paved and tree edged, to a
| vine covered lodge. Here we are eagerly
seized upon by one of the half-dozen gate
keepers, who are glad to act as guides to
| the curious. We went on up, passing
groups of graceful, luxuriant trees and
beds OF brilliant, ill-assorted flowers. Our
guide took US into little house in which
is kept model Of the dokhma. From
this you learn what the inner construction
of every Parsi dokhma is; for into no
dokhma are you allowed to look.
On the. bottom of the tower is a
| thick floor of lime. A few feet
above is the grating upon which the
bodies are laid, The grating is divided
into three tiers; not above each other,
| but inside of each other. Each tier is di-
! vided into the same number of sections
These sections are formed by iron rays
| that spring from the center of the tower
/ to its outer circumference or wall
| Hence the apartments of the inner tier
| smaller than thOSn nf tho
those of the center tier smaller than
those Of the outer. The outer tier is
reserved for the bodies of the men
the inner tier for the bodies of chill
dren; and on the center tier the swoop-
ing vultuTes find the bodies of the Parsee
! women.
THE vULTUREs PREY.
Only the attendants of the dokhma are
allowed to enter it with the dead They
pass quickly up narrow aisle that runs
from the doorway, and lay the dead upon
the appointed place. They tear the sheets
rapidly from the body, for the vultures
are waiting, and they do not wait tamely.
Only one article is left upon the corpse
the kusti The attendants hurry away,
and the vultures, with horrid cries, rush
down upon the prey.
The kusti is one of the two badges of
the followers of Zoroaster. 1t is wooden
CuIu anu Is nOllOW. OAly bn6 women OF
the priest caste are allowed to weave it,
1t must be woven of seventy-two threads
and be about oue-sixteenth of an inch in
diameter. II is first woven as a contin-
uops cord, and has, of course, no ends
About foot of the warp is left unopen
Then it is passed on to a priest. He cuts
the woven bit in the center. This makes
two ends of loose threads. Then he
braids to within an inch of their extremi-
ties, then he divides each braid into three
little braids. All the time he repeats pre-
scribed prayers In Zend, not one word of
which he understands. The Parsee prayers
are handed down from generation to gen
Grafton learned mechanically, and it is
very exceptional for even a high priest to
understand them.
The kusti is tied loosely about the waist
early in the Parsee life; at or before pu-
berty, ] believe. 1t denotes chastity,
which is one of the chief requirements of
the Parsee religion. The kusti is the last
garment to leave the Parsi's body. 1t is
torn off by the devouring vultures.
The vultures are kept and bred by the
attendants of the Dokhmas for the pur-
pose of cleaning the flesh from off the
bones OF the Parsee dead. They are only a
few hours at the longest in executing
their gruesome task. The dokhma is
roofess. When the rain falls it washes
the dust of the crumbling bones down to
the lime flooring. From there it grad
ually drains away and Is absorbed again
into the economy of nature in way abso-
lutely harmless to the living.
THE STONE OF PARTING.
A few yards from the tower of silence
is white stone. 1t is kept clean, and
shines up from the green grass. Nearer
/ the dokhma than this stone no one NAV
go, save the dead and the professional at
tendants, 1t is the stone of parting, the
stone of good-by, of everlasting farewell.
Beyond it the dead must go from those
who have loved him, those he has loved
go alone into the place of death, and into
the something after death. which in
Parsee usage, seems to US worse than death
itself.
1 stood by that white stone one dav
with one Of the most remarkable men in
the east--a Parse. The birds shrieked
angrily as they sat upon the towers The
old attendant said stoically:
eve have had no funeral since early
yesterday; they are getting
l drew back that ! might not hear the
horrid end of his sentence, Then 1 said
to my companion, a hberal-minded man.
with whom we had often discussed in
volved social issues
"Did you not dislike itl"
mo" was the reply; my wife was laid
there twenty years ago, and l shall lie
| there in few years II is o,r D.r,oo -