The record-union., 1898-03-04
TOWERS OF SILENCE.
STRANGE BURIAL PLACES
FOUND IN INDIA.
The Ceremonies Attendant Upon
the Disposal of the Dead-Dc-
scription Of the Towers.

CcciuSIlt, Oh the LOroaStrlanS, OF r ar
sees. and their religion, than of any
other Oriental religious community, and
although their Dakhmas, or towers OF
silence, at Bombay, India, have been
more or less specifically described by
| travellers, the architectural details of
these peculiar structures have rarely.
| If ever, appeared in a European or
| American publication.
The most unique and impressive fea-
| ture of Zoroast1ian customs is their
| method of disposing of the dead Ac-
| cordlng TO their religion, earth, fire,
| and water are sacred elements, useful
to mankind, and hence not to be pol
luted in any way. They are strictly
| enjoined that dead bodies shall not be
! thrown into the sea- burned in fire nor
buried in the earth. Therefore the
only practicable course open to them is
to expose the naked bodies of their dead
IN the open air so that they may decay
ana dislntegrate under the ordinary ac-
ton of the elements or be devoured by
! birds or beasts. This exposure, how
ever. is made with the confident ex-
pectation that the corpse will be speed
lily eaten by vultures. which are nu-
merous and voracious in Oriental coun-
tries, and especially SO in the vicinity
of tower of silence.
These towers are not as numerous as
| Is generally supposed. Outside of Per-
STA 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 summit of Malabar Hill
a picturesque elevation on the eastern
boundary OF the city, from which a
magnificent view of the surroundins
| country can be had The Parsees owr
about fifteen acres of the hill, and have
| transformed the place into a veritable
paradise. There is nothing suggestive
of death about the place 1t is a lux
| urlant garden of flowers, ornamental
shrubbery, palms, cypress, bamboo.
and other tropical trees laid out with
| smooth, Well-kept gravel walks There
are comfortable benches in shady
hooks, secluded TRUSTING places and
fragrant copses, where birds of brilliant
piumage sing and mate Vigorous, ex-
uberant life is manifest everywhere.
Wh1le all nature seems to deprecate
funereal thoughts and to encourage
dreams of earthly joy and beauty. But
these dreams are in a measure, dis
| peled When one sees a tower of Sd
lence nesting arneng the trees and re-
calls the purpose for which these
round, whitewashed piles of solid ma
sonry We're built
There are six of these towers located
within less than 100 yards of each 9TH
er, and partially hidden by the over
hanging foliage Of palms and expresses.
rive are used for the exposure of the
oodles of Parsees in good standing in
their community, While the sixth re-
celves the bodies of criminals and out
casts. The first was built in 1869 and
the second in 1856.
Each tower is about thirty feet high.
100 feet in circumference and con-
structed of blocks or trap rock and
sandstone cemented closely and covered
smoothly on the outside by a heavy
coating of chenam or stucco. stone
parapet about three feet high rises
above the three concentric circles of
corpse receptacles, which slope sharply
| toward the central we'll and seem to
be hewn out of solid rock. Every feature
OF the structure represents a Zoroastri-
an principle of tenet. The three cir
cIes OF corpse receptacles-one for
males, one for females and one for
chlldren-stand for three fundamental
precepts OF Zoroastrianism, l. e.. Good
words, good thoughts. good deeds. I"
Ihere are seyenty-two receptacles. rep
resenting the seventy-two chapters OF
the fasna of Zoroaster, a portion of
| the Zend Avesta.
me central WE'LL where the bones of
the dead are finally thrown. is about
ninety feet in circumference. and the
sldes and bottom are paved with stone
SLABS. There are holes in the sides of
TINS We'll, near the bottom. through
Wmcn 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 thick layer of sand
Pleces of sandstone and charcoal.
paced ct the end of each drain and re-
hewed at intervals, filter and purify the
ram water which passes over the bones
IN the central well, before it enters the
ground, thus observing the tenet:
Mother Earth shall not be defiled."
When a death occurs the body is
wrapped in a white sheet and placed on
an iron bier. Within twelve hours there
after 1T is taken in charge by official
corpse-bearers, called khandias. and a
procession is formed headed by one or
more mobeds, or Parsee priests. fol-
lowed by the mourning relatives and
friends of the deceased in couples. each
couple holding the opposite ends of a
White handkerchief All the partici-
pants are attired in new white robes
which are never worn afterward. No
carriage or other wheeled vehicle is
ever used and the procession marches
slowly, and in silence, from the Parsee
quarter of the city to Malabar hill and
up the long flights Of stone steps to the
tower garden on the summit and to a
point within thirty feet of the particular
tower selected for the exposure Here
the mourners, mobeds and khandias
leave the body and retire to a sagree
or prayer temple, near the entrance to
the garden. where the sacred fire, fed
with sandal wood and incense, is kept
constantly burning. While prayers are
peing SAID Tor the safe passage of the
departed soul over the "Chinvat
bridge the corpse is taken into the
tower by two official bearers called
nassasalars, who strip it and deposit it
NAKED in one of the open receptacles.
during all this the watchful observer
VIII notlce evidences of excitement
among the numerous large vultures
percned among the palms and Expresses
near the tower. They utter no cries but
move restessly on the branches and
indicate plainly their impotence to be-
gin the feast prepared for them.
The nassasalars, having performed
their task, emerge from the tower, clos
ing the door with sharp bang. The
instant this sound is heard there arises
:. 10 md wi Of