The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1908-02-19
NO CREMATION FOR PARsEEs
Expose the Bodies OF Their Dead tc
Be Deyoured by Tuitures.

Expose the Bodies OF Their Dead tc
Be Devoured by Vultures.
Indignation was created among
the Parsees by an agitation to in.
duce them to dispose Of their dead
by cremation instead OF exposing
them to be devoureo by vultures on
their towers OF silence" They are
not prepared to abandon custom
which Is hallowed to them by l.oary
antiquity and associated with their
most solemn religious rites.
Though in European minds the
thought of allowing feathered s"av-
engers to feast on the boaies OF their
beloved dead would excite the deep
est feelings of repugnance and dis
gust, as practiced b. the Parsees
this method of getting rid OF the
feshly tenement Is far from being so
horrible as is generally imagined.
Indeed, to the Parsees themselves
and they are the most cultivated and
intelligent Of all the sects found in
India-it seems far preferable to
burying the dead as practiced by
Christians.
Your people," said a Parsee. "Dut
your dead underground, where they
provide banquet for worms. We
put ours above ground, where their
flesh Is eaten BY vultures. The III
innate result Is the same. The bones
are left. But there IS a great differ
ence in what takes place before the
skeleton stage is reached, and that
method Before consigning the bod
les Of your dead to the earth You in
close them In collins You dare not
allow your imaginatlons to picture
the horrible changes that there
takes place before Nature recovers
what she gave. We do not seek to
retard the process. The vuitures do
their work expeditiously. There is
no putrefaction Christian burial
grounds, so l have read, are often
sources Of disease; ParSee dokhItas.
or towers Of silence as you po2ti-
cally call them, are never such.
From a sanitary point OF view they
are incomparably superior to your
cemeteries, and with us they are
equally sacred"
But" 1t was suggested, "fre
would do the work even better than
vultures."
"Or worms" said the Parsee.
when you Christians take to ere
nation we Parsees may possibly fol-
low your excellent example. There
are far we1ghtier reasons why ere
nation should take the place Of bu-
rial than can be urged in favor OF
its substitution for our towers OF
silence"
The towers Of silence crown the
summit Of Malabar Hill, near Bonn
bay, and are situated in the midst
of q beautiful garden whose tropical
trees swarm with vuTtures. They
are built Of stone and are about
twenty-five feet high. A small door
Is provided for the entrance Of the
body When Parsee dies, after the
performance Of solemn and impos
ing funeral rites. the body is borne
upon an iron bier to the towers, fol-
lowed by a procession of relatives
and friends Of the dead, headed By
a number Of priests. Upon arrival at
the garden the bier Is laid down and
prayers are said ct the "sagri" or
house Of prayer near the entrance
to the garden. The attendants tlen
carry the body to the towers Of 81
lence, lay it on its stony bed and re-
tira Then the vuitures Father about
and do their grueso ne work GnGaen.
The bones are SOON dcni!dad of iesh
and fall through an iron grating into
a pit beneath, from which they are
afterward removed by subterra-
mean cavern.
On the third day after the death
friends and relatives again Assem-
Bile at the. house where the dead man
lived and thence proceed to the
temple of fire" s:arding before
the urns in which the celestial
fires" are kept burning, priests re-
cite prayers for the soul Of the de-
parted. His son. or adopted son.
kneels before the high priest and
promises due performance Of al re-
ligious rites and obseGuies to the
dead. Friends and relatives then
ha w.t. ict Of
ton to various charities which have
been subscribed as memorial Offer
ing. This concludes the ceremony OF
"rising from mourning Or the res
direction of the dead" On each re-
curing anniversary of the death OF
a Parsee memorial funeral cere-
monies are performed. An iron
framework Is erected in the ho2se.
in which shrubs and flowers are cul-
tivated, thus literally keeping tho
memory Of the dead man. green. Be
fore these iron frames prayers are
said twoor more times during twenty
four. hours.
The Parsees are small sect.
They number altogether about 81
900, Of whom 72,CGO live IN or near
Bombay. Most Of the remaining
10000 are found in Persia. AS a
people they are remarkably intail:-
gent and trustworthy, with great
genius for business They are highly
prosperous, much given to charity.
and heeoars are unknown aroOnr
them.
Coffin as g CIT.