Evening star., 1914-12-27

with the eternal fire under glass. The
flame was very clear. venerable
bearded priest stood beside the lamp.
His discourse was earnest and solemn.
very attentive.
The ceremonies of worship are quite
simple. but the mysteries OF the faith
may lie less so. The Farsees who have
been educated in England and many OF
those whose English education has
been obtained in Bombay resent the
designation of fire worshipers.
One of them gave me a monograph,
written by a Parsee harrister in Lon
don. which explained the creed of the
followers of Zoroaster as one of good
thoughts. good words and good deeds.
with the sacred flame as a symbol OF
the efruigence Of the Deity 1t is not
denied. however. that contact with
Hindus and Mohammedans has caused
The Hindus and Moslems regard the
Parsees as fire worshipers.
sx
II was on New Year day that I
drove out to Malabsr hill. where are
located the Towers OF Silence. or the
Parsee cemetery. Every traveller takes
this drive 1t is past the other cene-
teries, Christian and Mohammedan
burial grounds and the indu burning
CHAT The cemetery OF the Christians
Is no longer used. but on almost any
day there will be Mohamredan funerals
and Hindu cremations
On this day there were two Moham-
medan funerals and three parties OF
Hindu raourners. with their respective
burdens at the burning CHAT
Malabar hill is the choice spot over
looking the Arabian sea. Within the
cemetery grounds are fagstone steps.
~ f,,r
luxuriant vegetation covers the
rocks. and there is everything that
goes to make n beautiful garden OF
flowers.
The Towers of Silence. of which there
are FIVE, are hardly towers at all.
They are about 275 feet In circumfer-
ence and perhaps Twenty-Five feet high
The material is whitewashed stone and
cement or morta near approach to
the towers is nov allowed to strangers
to the Parsee ci ed. nor Is entrance
permitted to the FIRE temple. where the
sacred fire is kept alive and seven
kinds OF incense are burned
model of the towers Is shown in
the registry room and an attendant ex-
plains them to visitors. The attendant
explained to me the circular rows In
which the bodies were placed-one for
the children. one for the women and
one for the men. When the bodies
have been stripped of their fleshly COW
ering by the vultures. which takes per-
haps half an hour, the bones remain
for a while. and are then dropped into
Il we'll in the center. which is provided
with drains and water fiushes. Char
coal Is the chief purifier.
On this New Year day there was a
Parsee funeral. which could be observ-
ed only at respectful distance.
There were the four professional body
bear .rs. with the bier on their shoui-
ders. and a procession of perhaps nfty
mourners In their white robes walking
two abreast, each pair holding hand
kerchief The Parsee accounts say that
the body Is received by two bearded
attendants at the entrance to the
towers and that by them the shroud is
removed and then vultures do the rest
This Is probably what happened that
day.
All could note on this occasion was
a sudden movement OF the vultures IN
the palm trees. There seemed to be
hundreds of them. They paused for
minute on the outer edge of one of the
towers and then disappeared within.
In few minutes they reappeared
The Parsee method of disposing OF
the dead is. perhaps. as the Parsees
say, more sanitary than the christian
Hindu cremation It meets the tenet
Of their faith that fire. water and eartn
are too sacred to be polluted. But the
western mind cannot become accustom-
ed to It.
As concluding word. 1t may be said
that there are other New Year observ-
ances in India besides the New year
of the Christians, Mohammedans: HIN
dus and Parsees. There is a Chinese
colony in Bentick street, Calcutta, ana
Year as they do in the United Stat IS:
or in any other section OF the worio
CHARLES NJ. PEPPER.