The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1922-03-24
words the last resting place Of the
Parsi dead,

WOIuS Lue LaSt IeotllIS PiaSc VI ttA0
Parsi dead.
The Parsis, formerly Inhabitants
of Persia, are the modern followers
of Zoroaster and of their total num-
Der in India about 100000; some
thing like $4,000 live in Bombay.
The sacred fire that Zoroaster was
said to have brought from heaven,
is kept burning in consecrated spots
and temples are built over slbterani-
an fires. The priests tend the fires
On the affairs and burn incense, but
do not worship the sui or fire as is
commonly supposed. God, according
to Parsi faith, is the emblem of
glory and light, therefore, a Parsi
while praying is directed to stand
before the fire or to direct his face
towards the sun as the most proper
symbols of the Almighty. The Ele-
ments Fire, Water and the Earth,
are sacred to them and therefore
they will not permit either to be
polluted by their dead which are dis
posed Of in a peculiar manner.
In the most beautiful part of
Bombay is Malabar Hill, a large part
of which is occupied by the Parsis
for the disposal Of their dead and it
is here the Tower of Silence" is To-
Gated. In order to see it it is neces-
sary to get a permit from the secre-
tary Of Parsi society, which is no
trouble whatever to obtain. Within a
gateway Of ar outer enclosure which
IAN be entered by automobile you
come to a long flight of steps which
mount to a gateway in the inner
wall, and at this point visitors are
met by an official of the society and
conducted through the grounds,
which are very beautiful and seem
to be arranged to foster calm medi-
tation.
At a Parsi funeral the bier is car
ried up the steps by four carriers of
the dead and followed by two beard
ed men, and the mourners and these
bearded men are the only persons
who enter the tower with the corpse,
and they as well as the carriers, have
life positions and are succeeded by
their sons.
After depositing the corpse with
in the tower these men 60 to a place
near by and wash and purify them
selves and leave their clothes in a
tower built for the purpose.
There is a very fine model Of one
of the towers and we were much in
trested in its construction, and the
explanation Of the official. The five
towers are cylindrical in shape and
constructed of brick and cement and
painted white, and the largest is
about 100 feet in diameter and rs
feet high and said to have cost
about $150,000.00 At about 10 feet
from the ground is an opening in
the %encircling all closed by an iron
door about 6 feet square and it is
through this opening that the corpse
Is carried into the tower by the two
bearded men. Inside, the plan of the
building, resembles a circular grid
iron, sloping towards the center, in
which there is a we'll a few feet in
diameter. Besides the circular wall
that encloses this we'll there are two
other circular walls between it and
the outside wall with footpaths run
ming upon them and the spaces be-
tween are divided into compartments
by ~radiating walls running from the
edge of the we'll, each compartment
being wide enough to receive a
corpse. The bodies of adult males
are laid in the outer series of COM
partments, the women in the middle
series and the children in that near
est the well.
They are placed in the graves
quite naked and in half an hour the
flesh is completely devoured by the
hundreds Of vultures that sit upon
the top of the wall and adjoining
trees, and nothing but the skeleton