The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-12-26

away Win them parts OF DOQy, ana II IS
no unusual thing for the gentlemen In
their country seats to have dropped into
their doorways a bone from the tower OF
silence.
In the center Of this tower is well,
into which the bones are thrown after
they are bleached. The hot sun and the
rainy season and charcoal do their work
of disintegration and disinfection. and then
there are sluices that carry into the sea
what remains Of the dead The wealthy
people Of Malabar hill have made strenu-
Gus efforts to have these strange towers
removed a nuisance, but they remain
and will no doubt for ages remain.
Reverence for the Elements of Nature
1 talked with a learned Parsee about
these mortuary customs. He said: 81
suppose you consider them very peculiar,
but the fact is we Parsees reverence the
elements Of nature and cannot consent to
defile them. We reverence the fire. and
therefore will not ask it to burn our dead.
We reverence the water and do not ask 1t
to Submerge our dead. We reverence the
earth and will not ask it to bury our dead.
and so we let the vultures take them
away" He confirmed me In the theory
that the Parsees act on the principle that
the dead are unclean. No one must touch
such body. The carriers OF this tomb
OF silence" must not put their hands on
the form Of the departed. They wear
Eliminated. When the bones are to be re-
moved from the sides of the tower and put
in the well al the center, they are touched
carefully by tongs. Then these people be-
sides have very decided theories about the
democracy OF the tomb. No such thing as
caste among the dead. Philosopher and
boor, the affiuent and the destitute must
go through the same tower OF silence"
lie down side by side with other occupants
have their bodies dropped into the same
a M hga "a cd 1Trf -f7crfl fna arr,n
canal and float away on the same sea. No
splendor Of Metropolis, no sculpturing of
mausOleum, no pOmp of dome or obelisk
Z0rOaster's teachings resulted in these
towers Of silence" He wrote, NAKED
you came into the world, and naked you
must go out"
As l stood at the close of day in this
garden on Malabar hill and heard the flap
OF the vultures' wings coming from their
repast. the funeral custom of the Parsee
seemed horrible beyond compare, and yet
the dissolution of the human body by any
mode is awful, and the beaks of these fowl
are probably no more repulsive than the
worms Of the body devouring the sacred
human form in cemeteries. Nothing but
the resurrection day can undo the awful
work of death. whether it now be put out
of sight by cutting spade or flying wing.
At Wedding.
Starting homeward, we soon were in
the heart of the city and saw a building
all a-fiash with lights and resounding with
merry voices. 1t was a Parsee wedding
in a building erected especially for the
marriage ceremony. We came to the door
and proposed to go in, but at first were
not permitted. They saw we were not
Parsees, and that we were not even ma
tives. So very politely they halted us on
the dOOrsteps. This temple of nuptials
urac ioI H. tlos,
and necks and hands a-fiame with jewels
or limitations of jewels. By pantomime
and gesture, as we had no use of their
vocabulary, we told them we were strang-
ers and were curious to see by what pro-
cess Parsees were married.
Gradually we worked our way inside
the door. The building and the surround
ings were illumined by hundreds OF can
dies in glasses and lanterns, In unique and
grotesque holdings. Conversation ran
high, and laughter dubbed over, and all
was gay. Then there was a sound of an
advancing band Of music, but the instru-
ments for the most part were strange to
our ears and eyes. Louder and louder were
the outside voices, and the wind and
stringed instruments, until the procession
halted at the door of the temple and the
bridegroom mounted the steps. Then the
music ceased, and all the voices were still.
The mother of the bridegroom, with a
platter loaded with arOmaucs and articles
of food, confronted her son and began to
address him. Then she took from the
Platter a bottle Of perfume and sprnk.ed
his face with the redOlence. Al the while
speaking in a droning tone, she took from
the platter a handful of rice. throwing
some of it on his head, spi-.ing some of il
on his shoulder, pouring some of 1t on his
hands. She took from the p-atter a cocoa
nut and waved 1t about his head. She lift
ed a garland of flowers and threw Ii over
a n and
1t in his hand. Her part of the ceremony
competed. the band resumed its music,
and through another door the bridegroom
was conducted into the center of the
building. The bride was in the room, but
there was nothing TO designate her.
Where is the bride?" I said. where is
the bride?" After awhile she was made
evident. The bride and groom were seated
on chairs opposite each other. A white
curtain was dropped between them so that
they could not see each other. Then the
attendants put their arms under this cur
tain, took iong rope Of linen and wound
1t around the neck OF the bride and thu
groom in token that they were to be bound
together for life. Then some silk strings
were wound around the couple, now around
this one and now around that. Then the
groom threw a handful of rice across the
curtain on the head Of the bride. and the
bride responded by throwing a handful of
rice across the curtain on the head of the
groom. Thereupon the curtain dropped,
and the brides chair was removed and put
beside that Of the groom Then a priest of
the Parsee religion arose and faced the
coupe. Before the priest was placed
Platter Of rice. He began to address the
young man and woman. We could not
hear word, but understood just as wei, as
If we had heard. Ever and anon he pune
tuated his ceremony by a handful of rice.
which he picked up from the p.atter and
flung now toward the groom and now to-
ward the bride.
The ceremony went on Unfortunately.
We wanted to hear the conclusion, but
were told that the ceremony would go on
for long while-indeed that it would
not conclude until o'clock in the morn
O'Clock in the evening. There would be a
recess after awhile in the ceremony, but it
would be taken up again in earnest at
1890. We enjoyed what we had SEEN but
felt incapacitated for six more hours OF
wedding ceremony. Silently wishing the
couple a happy life in each others COM
panship, we pressed our way through the
throng of congratulatory Parsees. All of
them seemed bright and appreciative of the
occasion. The streets outside joyously
sympathized with the transactions inside
Women I'm India.
We rode on toward our hotel wishing
that marriage in all India might be as
much honored as in the ceremony we had
that evening witnessed at the Parsee we'd
ding. The Hindoo women are not so mar
ried. They are simply cursed into the
conjugal relation. Many of the girls are