Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-19
TOWERS Of SILENCE
Where the Parsees Dispose Of
Their Dead.
A REVOLVING METHOD
HINDU AND MoHAMMEDAN TEN
PILES coMMoNPLACE.
Bodies of the Hindus Cremated in the
Open Air-Expensiye Fires Used in
the Case Of the Rich.
By WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

l
| Special Correspondence of The Evening Star and
| Chicago Record Herald
BOMBAY, January 20, 1904.
| While the Parsees teach pure and lofty
morality and are famous for their integ-
| rity benevoence and for their good
thoughts, good works and good deeds, their
| method of disposing of their dead Is re-
| voting. For stripped of every thread OF
| clothing, the bodies Of their nearest and
dearest are exposed to. dozens of hungry
vultures, which quickly strip the flesh from
| the bones.
| In beautiful grove upon the top of a
hill overlooking the city and the sea, sur
rounded by high, ugly wall. are the So
called Towers of Silence. upon which these
| hideous birds can always be seen, waiting
for their feast. They roost upon palm
trees in the neighborhood and often in their
| flight drop pieces of human flesh from their
beaks or their talofis, which are allowed
to lie rotting in the fields below. An Eng
lish lady driving by the Towers of Silence
not long ago was naturally Mortified when
the finger of a dead man was dropped into
her carriage by one of these awful birds
| and two or three years, since an army Off
| Ger tells me, he picked up by the roadside
| the forearm and hand of woman which
had been torn from body only few
| hours DEAD ana nd0 eventually fallen DUR
| ing fight. The reservoir which stores the
| water supply of Bombay is situated upon
the same hill, not more than half a mile
| distant. and for obvious reasons has been
covered with roof.
| Some years ago the municipal authori-
| ties, having had their attention called to
possible pollution of the water notified the
| Parsees that the Towers of Silence would
| have to be removed to distance from the
| city, but the rich members of that faith
preferred to pay the expense of roofing over
the reservoir to abandoning what to them
| is not only sacred but precious ground.
| The human mind can adjust itself to al
| most any conditions and associations and
| a cultured Parsee will endeavor to con-
vince you by clever arguments that their
| method is not only humane and natural,
| but the best sanitary sIhethod ever devised
I of disposing of the dead. And they regard
| these awful ceremoIIes Merry much as we
regard a funeral, for they have practiced
| them for centuries. 1T ]
The Funeral Ceremonies.
Funeral ceremonies are held at the resi-
dence of the dead; prayers are offered and
eulogies are pronounbed. #hen procession
is formed and the ifearse is preceded by
the priests and followed by the male mem
bers of the family and by friends The body
| is not placed in a coffin but is covered with
| rich shawls and vestfnents When the
| gateway of the outer temple is reached
| priests, who are permanently attached to
the Towers of Silence, and reside within
| the inclosure meet the procession and take
charge of the body, which is first carried
i to a temple, where prayers are offered and
sacred fire continually kept burning
there, is replenished., -.
While the friends and fm1od{IT1nar arc on
gagged in worship Nasr Salafs. as the at
tendants are called take the bier to the
entrance of one Of the towers There are
hve, OF circular shape, with walls forty feet
high, perfectly plain and whitewashed. The
largest Is 2l6 feet in circumference and cost
| Sloo,OO0 The entrance is about fifteen or
twenty feet from the ground and is reached
py a night OF steps The inside plan of the
building resembles a circular gridiron
gradually depressed toward the center. at
which there Is pit. five feet in diameter
from this pit cement walks radiate like the
spokes OF a wheel. and between them are
three series of compartments extending
around the entire tower Those nearest the
center are about four feet long, two feet
VIDE ana SIX inches deep. The next series
are little larger, and the third larger
still, and they are intended respectively
FOR men. women and children.
| when the bearers have brought the BODY
IL INTO the anteroom of the tower they strip
II entirely of its clothing. The valuable
coverings are carefullydaid away and sent
to the chamber of publication, where they
are thoroughly fumigated and afterward
returned to the friends. The wrappings
are burned. The body is laid in one Of the
compartments entirely naked and In half
an hour the flesh is completely stripped
from the bones by voracious birds that
have been eagerly watching the proceed
ings from the tops of the tall palms that
overlook the cemetery. There are about
TWO hundred vultures around the place:
most OF them are old birds and are thor
oughiy educated They know exactly what
to expect and behave with greatest de-
corum They never enter the tower until
the bearers have left 1t, and are deliberate
times when they are Particularly hungry
tnelr greed gets the better of their dignity
and they quarrel and fight over their prey.
i Bones Bleached in the Sun.
After the zones are stripped they are al
lowed to lie In the sun and bleach and de-
cay until tie compartment they occupy is
needed for another body, when the Nasr
Salars enter with gloves and tongs and cast
them into the central pit, where they finally
crumble into dust The floor of the tower
Is SO arranged that all the rain that falls
upon 1t passes into the pit, and the mois-
ture promotes decomposition. The bottom
OF the pit Is perforated and the water i'm
pregnated with the dust from the bones
Is filtered through charcoal and becomes
thoroughly disinfected before 1t Is allowed
to pass through a sewer into the bay. The
FITS are the receptaclesrof the dust of gen.
erations, and | am told that so much of it
| Is drained off by the rainfall, as described,
that they have never been filled.
The carriers are not allowed to leave the
grounds, and when a man engages in that
IocCupdtiou ne HluSt retire forever ITOH the
world as much as if1+iiebwere a Trappist
monk Nor can he communicate with any
one except the priests Erho have charge of
the temple. -.
Beautiful Grounds,
The grounds are beautifully laid out. No
money or labor has beam spared to make
them attractive, and scbmfertable benches
have been placed along the walks. where
relatives and friends inlay sit and con-
| verse or mediate after title ceremonies are
concluded. The Parsees Are firm believers
in the resurrection. and 3hey expect their
mutilated bodies to rise again gioriied and
incompatible. rop.
The theory upon wAieh1heir peculiar Gus
tom is based is veneEati0mfor the elements
Fire Is the chief ob3ect.sf their worship
and they cannot alloM itsto be polluted by
burning the dead; water is almost as sa-
cred, and the soil of- the earth is the
source of their food, their strength and
| almost everything that is beautiful Fur
thermore. they believe in the equality of
all creatures before God. and hence the
dust OF the rich and poor mingles in the pit
Parsee temples are very plain and their