The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-07-16
THE EMPIRE OF INDIA
Xli.-Pelieion of the Parsees.
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.

Bombay fndia.-The Parsees are the
most distinct and peculiar OF w
many races which have made tneH nom
in India ana their religion IS lntetestiie
as survival Cf the early AIyth Idltn'
which held sway in General ASA When
the lamp Of civilization burned DIishIJ ~
/ IN Persia. They expose their deau 20
oevoured by vultures and the sacred ilL7
Is the emblem of their highest Devotion
Inese strikingly peculiar customs ~
gether with the commercial supremacy o.
/ the race in Bombay, invite the interest
I Of every visitor to India
The Parsees are followers OF IorOaster
and believers in the sacred WRITINGS OF
/ the Hend-Avesta. Their religion Waa
founded twelve or fourteen centuries De
! fore Christ and. without many changes.
remained the prevailing falth or Persia
ana Central Asia until the Mohammedah
missionaries of the sword oNefthieW tteif
nation and prosecuted their renEloh. 40
/ the year III a small body of Persian refu-
gees fled to India and were welcomed Dy
/ the Hindu chief Of Baroda. 1t was th7h
that they assumed the cap shaped Ike a
morse hOOf in token or SuDHllsSltM 70
the rulers of their adopted country InHy
/ lsd preCari0us existence, however, ana
did not assume importance until atlef
I the english established BOMBAY, Wh-H
I they were given an opportunity 10 MAKE
I use of their natural business shreW dnesS
I EITSea means simply PERSIAN, ana is
/ a radical name. The religion is correctly
.
/ known as Zoroastrianism, from the name
7 of its great prophet. The Zrnd-AYeSta,
/ the sacred book Of Persia, was not com
/ pleted until many centuries after the
Idaath OF Zoroaster. and tie Parsees- loIS
/ to the Hebrew prophet Daniel as one OF
J their greatest teachers.
J Parsees stOutly deny that they are fire
. WOrshiDpers DESPITE the opinion Of cen
turtles and the generation which they &C
I cord to the sacred flame. The original
/ refugees from Persia brought the embers
/ Of the sacred fire from central Asia and
the fires now alight in the ParSee tenn
Dles of India are believed to have been
, hindled more than 5000 years ago Ac-
I cOrdlng to the tenets of the taith there
are two spirits. Ahura Mazda, or good,
1 ana DeVa, or evil which are constantly
. striving for the mastery. Their hope and
/ belief is that Soshios, son of ZOroaster,
/ VIII be reinCarnated and that he VIII
destroy evil purify the world and make
Mazdalsm supreme. This belief is her
itage from the Jews through Daniel
/ They believe in heaven and hell. that
! conduct in life determines the future state
] OF reward or punishment, they deny the
/ doctrine Of reincaruation, except in the
case Of the expected second coming OF
/ SOShiOS, and they hold that duly per
/ formed religious rites by the living help
/ the souls of their ancestors TO happi-
ness.
The elements. fire. water and earth, are
revered as the gifts of the good spirit
and the sun moon and stars are also
/ held sacred. The more ignorant classes
! worship the elements and the celestial
/ bodies as gods. the higher classes consider
them the holy gifts Of the Supreme Good
! God. Fire. water and earth are held
/ most sacred, in the order named.
Inc religion was corrupted by contact
with Hinduism for many centuries, but
about three hundred years ago there was
ITeSn immigration from Persia and the
purity Of the faith was restored In late
years under the influence of the Occi-
dental civilization, there has been a move
ment to differentiate the fire and other
symbols from the higher worship, and
this has brought about revival of study
of the ancient Persian language and a
closer organization Of the religious body
Of the race.
One thing must be said Of the Parsees-
their morals are high and there is no
blemish upon the conduct Of their lives IN
their family TeiatiOns-ss father and son
mother and daughter husband and wife.
Inc ParSees have high reputation as
men of honor I'm business. they will full
MI contract 20 the minute and the let
ter. But it is wise for the other party
to look sharp at the time the contract
is sealed.
The BODY, whence the soul has depart p
ed, is accounted impure and unclean.
{ Therefore fire must not be daflad bv
burning it, water must not be defiled By
/ casting 1t into the sea or river and earth
must not be defiled by buTying it. SO the
practice began years ago, of exposing
the COrgSes to be eaten by birds and
beasts. This practice has been refined
and systematized and is now invested
with the strict ceremonial Of ulIa-ritual-
Z ism.
The Towers Of Silence in Bombay are
the most interesting things to be seen
I in that interesting city. They stand at
the top Of Malabar hill the highest point
OF ground on Bombay island. There are
I five circular towers of from on IN 200
rect I'm circumference and about thirty
feet in height. Permission to visit the
Tower compound is easily obtained but
no one is allowed to go nearer than the
flower garden which surrounds the HOUSE
OF Prayer at the gate. Even the MOURN
ers in a funeral train may not approach
nearer than this
Men set apart for the purpose. despised
DY their co-religiOnists as unclean take
the body from The House OF PRAYER.
where the mourners stand with thei,
clothes linked together in token of united
grief They bear the body on a litter uD
the inclined plane which leads to an iron
/ door, a little more than halfway I'D the
size of the tower. Only thesa bearded car
rleTS or the dead are permitted to enter
the towers. If any other person should
see one Of the bodies or Skeletons inside
he would be cursed with eternal Verdi
uon ard MS descendants woul5 share his
woe.
Inside. the tower is wholly occupied BY
a circular gridiron. slOping toward a cen
trail wall, and having three cOncentric
rows of inches for bodies. The inside cir
I Gle is Tor children. the next for women
and the outer circle for men, The body
carriers place their burden in one of the
mchcs. remove the shroud, and leave the
body quite naked.
Then the waiting vultuTes swoop down
from the sides of the tower and from
every neighbOring tree. IN less than an
hour there is nothing left but the cleanly
Mrs. WInsIow's Soothing Syrup
nc