Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-15

to be polluted in any way. They are
strictly enjonc that dead bodies shall not
be thrown into the sea, burned in fire nor
be buried in the earth. Therefore the only
practicable course open to them is to eX-
roSe the naked bodies of their dead in the
open air, so that they may decay and disin-
tegrate under the ordinary action of the
elements or be dcvoured by birds or beasts.
This exposure, however. is made with the
confident expectation that the corpse will
be speedily eaten by vultures, which are
numerous and voracious III oriental coun-
tries and especially so in the vicinity of 4
tower of silence.
But Few in Use.
These towers are not as numerous as is
generally supposed. Outside of Persia and
Russia the only ones in use at present are
those in Bombay and one or two in China.
Those in Bombay are located on the sum-
nit of Malabar hill, a picturesque eleva-
ton on the eastern boundary of the city,
from which a magnificent view of the sur
rounding country can be had The Parsees
own about fifteen acres of the hill, and
have transformed the place into veritabe
paradise. There is nothing suggestive of
death about the place. 1t is a luxurious
garden of flowers, ornamental shrubbery,
palms, expresses, bamboo and other tropi-
cal trees. laid out with smooth, well-kept
gravel walks. There are comfortable
benches in shady hooks, secluded trySting
places and fragrant copses, where birds OF
exuberant life is manifest everywhere,
while all nature seems to deprecate fune-
real thoughts and to encourage dreams of
earthly joy ard beauty. But these dreams
are. in a measure, dispelled when one sees
tower OF silence nesting among the trees
and recalls the purpose for which these
round, whitewashed piles of solid masonry
were built.
within less than 100 yards of each other.
and partially hidden by the overhanging
foliage of palms and expresses. Five are
used for the exposure of the bodies of Par
sees In good standing in their community,
while the sixth receives the bodies of crmi-
nails and outcasts The first vas built in
1861 and the second in 1856.
On the Inside.
Tie accompanying diagram, made by
Pestougee Dadabhoy, a Bombay Parsee,
Is the first ever made for publication and
presents comparatively accurate illustra-
ton of the details of construction. Eacn
tower is about 80 feet high, 100 feet in
circumference and constructed of blocks of
trap rock and sandstone cementcd closely
and covered smoothly on the outside by
heavy coating of chunam or stucco A
stone parapet about three feet high rises
above the three concentric circles of corpse
receptacles which slope sharply toward the
central well and seem to be hewn out of
solid rock. Every feature of the structure
represents a Zoroastrian principle or tenet
The three circles of corpse receptacles-A
for males, b for females and C for children
stand for the three fundamental precepts
of Zoroastrianism, i.e., Good words, good
thoughts and good deeds" There are
seventy-two receptacles, representing the
seventy-two chapters of the Yasna of Zorro
aster, a portion of the Zend Avesta.
The central well, where the bones of the
dead are finally thrown, is about ninety feet
in circumference, and the sides and bottom
are paved with stone slabs. There are
holes in the sides of this WELL near the
bottom, through which the rain water flows
into the four underground drains at the
base of the tower. These drains connect
with the underground wells, the bottoms
of which are covered with a thick layer of
sand. Pieces of sandstone and charcoal,
placed at the end of each drain and re-
newed at intervals, filter and purify the
rain water which passes over the bones in
the central well before it enters the ground,
thus observing the tenet: Mother Earth
shall not be defled.'
The Burial Service.
When a death occurs the body Is wrap
ped in white sheet and placed on an iron
bier. Within twelve hours thereafter 1t
is taken in chage by official corpse
bearers. called khandias. and a process
sion is formed. headed by one or more