Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-01-04

This garden was given by Jamshidji
Jijibhai and is beautiful with flowers
of all hue and foliage Of all styles OF
vein and notch and stature. There is
on all sides great opulence Of fern and
cypress. The garden is 100 feet above
the level Of the sea. Not far from the
entrance is building where the mourn
ers of the funeral procession go in to
pray. A light is here kept burning year
in and year out.
We ascend the garden by some eight
stone steps. The body Of a deceased
aged woman was being carried in to-
ward the chief "tower Of silence"
There are five Of these towers Several
of them have not been used for long
while. Four persons, whose business it
is to do this, carry the corpse. They
are followed by two men with long
boards. The tower Of silence to which
they come cost $3.50, 900 and is'25 feet
high and 276 feet around and without
q roof. The four carriers Of the dead
and the two bearded men come to the
door Of the tower, enter and leave the
dead. There are three rows Of places
for the dead-the outer row for the
men, the middle row for the women, the
inside row for the children. The life
less bodies are left exposed as far down
as the waist. AS soon as the employees
retire from the tower Of silence the
vultures, now one, now two, now many,
swoop upon the lifeless form. These
yultures fill the air with their discord-
ant voices. We saw them In long rows
on the top Of the whitewashed wall Of
the tower Of silence. In few minutes
they have taken the last particle Of
flesh from the bones There had evil
IDENTIFY been other opportunities for
them that day, and some few away, as
though surfeited. They sometimes carry
away with them parts Of body, and it
is no unusual thing for the gentlemen
in their country seats to have dropped
into their dooryards bone from the
tower OF silence.
In the center Of this tower is a 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 strenuous efforts to have these
strange towers removed as nuisance,
but they remain and will no doubt for
ages remain.
Food For vultures.
I talked with learned Psrsee about
these mortuary customs. He said: Il
suppose you consider them very pecul-
lar. but the fact is we Parsees rever
ence the elements of nature and cannot
consent to de6le them. We reverence
the fire, and therefore will not ask 1t
to burn our dead. We reverence the
water and do not ask it 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 Oh
the form Of the departed. They wear
gloves lest somehow they should be con-
taminated. When the bones are to be re
moved from the sides Of the tower and
put in the we'll at the center, they are
touched carefully by tongs. Then these
people besides have very decided theo-
ries about the democracy OF the toEib.
No such thing as caste among the dead
Philosopher and boor, the affluent ano
the destitute must 60 through the sam'
"tower Of silence" lie down side by
side with other occupants, have theil
bodies dropped into the same abyss anC
be carried out through the same cana
and float away on the same sea. Nc
splendor of Metropolis No sculpturine
of mausoleum. No pomp Of dome OF
obelisk. Zoroaster's teaching resulted
in these towers Of silence" He wrote,
NAKED you came into the world, anc
naked you must go out.
As stood at the close Of day in thii
garden on Malabar hill and heard the
, flap Of the yultures' wings coming from
their repast, the funeral custom OF th'
Parsee seemed horrible beyond compare
and vet the dissolution Of the human
body by any mode is awful, and thu
beaks of these fowl are probably N
more repulsive than the worms OF th'
body devouring the sacred human form
in cemeteries. Nothing but the resur
rection day can undo the awful work o
death, whether it now be put out o
sight by cutting spade or flying wing.
l A Parsee Wedding.
Starting homeward, we soon were IL
l the heart Of the city and saw building
all afiash with lights and resoundinl
with merry voices. 1t was Parse
wedding in a building erected especial
! " for the marriage ceremony. We cam
to the door and proposed to 60 in, bu
at first were not permitted They sa7
we were not Parsees, and that we wer
. not even natives. So, very politely, the,
halted us on the doorsteps. This tempt
% nuptials was chiefly occupied b.
: women. their ears and necks an
+ hands aflame with jewels or imitation
= of Jewels By pantomime and gee
ture, as we had no use OF their yo
9 cabulary, we told them we were stran
v gers and were curious to SEQ by wha
: process Parsees were married. Gradual
" we worked our way inside the door
n The building and the surrounding
T were illumined by hundreds Of candle
r in glasses and lanterns, In unique an
70 grotesque holdings. Conversation ra
= high, and laughter bubbled over, and a
J. was gay. Then there was a sound OF a
o advancing band Of music, but the II
% struments for the most part were strane
o to our ears and eyes Louder and loudt
:, :. were the outside voices and the win
= = and stringed instruments, until the PR
- q cession halted at the door OF the temp
- and the bridegroom mounted the step
, Then the music ceased, and all q
:, voices were still. Tt mother OF Il
20 bridegroom, with q platter loaded VII
= aromatics and articles Of food, confron
- ed her SON and began to address hir
Thon she took from the platter bott