The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1909-08-25
HOW THE PARSEES OF INDIA
DISPOSE OF THEIR DEAD.

Bodies Exposed in Towers of Silence
to CarriOn Birds and to the Ac-
ton of the Sun and Dew.
A peculiar method of disposing of
their dead prevails among the Par
sees, or fre-worshipers, the modern
followers of Zoroaster. Compare
lively few of this once powerful peo-
pie remain. When the Mohamme
dams overran Persia in the seventh
century the Parsees were bitterly
prosecuted and many of them emil
grated, the great preponderance of
the exiles settling in India. In Per-
STA today there are scarcely 10000
Parsees; but in India, principally at
Bombay and in the presidency of
Madras, the ancient fire-worshipers
have thrived, and they now number
close to 100000 souls, But whether
on the ancient soil of their race, or
in India, their manner of dispOsing
of their dead is similar. The bodies
81 Z lOJ 4ICIl0us do WIN Ooy MI gCI
mcinerated, but are exposed in dark
houses, or towers of silence, to the
fowls of the air. the dew and the sun
until the flesh has disappeared from
the bones and the latter are bleached
to whiteness
The Towers of Silence.
On Malabar Hill, in the presiden-
cy of Madras there are six of these
towers of silence, and to them the
Parsees from far and hear bring
their dead. The towers, which are
in a great enclosure, are from 80 to
40 feet high and about the same in
diameter. They are soldly built of
stone, and are colored white. There
is no window and only one door, COW
ering a small aperture about a third
of the way up. To this aperture &C
cess is obtained by a narrow stone
causeWay, up which the dead and the
bier-bearers alone may venture. So
sacred are the towers that no one
except the bearers, who are set apart
for the purpose, may approach with
in 80 PAGES of them. Inside on the
rock pavement spaces are marked
out, on which the dead are placed
to await the vultures, and pathways
are marked out for the bearers to
walk upon without def1ling the place
where their unconscious burdens are
to rest.
When a Parsee dies his soul goes
to heaven, but his body must not be |
tainted by corruption. Therefore it |
is at once washed and purified, and |
il there yet be time it is at once car
ried to the towers before sundown |
If death takes place, however, after |
say, 3 o'clock, when there would not |
be time to gain the towers and pray
becomingly before dark the body is |
kept till the early morning Having !
been rendered undefiled it is clothed |
in white, and prayers are offered at
the house by the family and friends. |
None may henceforth touch it; it is
pure, and must so remain. The wom-
en- of the family take a last look, |
and the light bier on which it has
been placed being covered with a
white shroud it is carried by the
bearers to the hill. No vehicle can |
on any account be used; no one must |
even follow in a vehicle; the whole |
Journey, no matter what the distance, |
must be made on foot. All who form |
part OF the cOrtege must have been |
washed and purified and clothed in |
white, and to touch any one would |
be to become defled. The women in |
some cases wear mourning -black-
but the men never. No woman at |
ends funeral; the female relatives
of the dead always remain at home
on that day, but they may go after