 The Parsi of India
The most interesting of all the many religious sects in India are
the Parsis, the residue of one of the world's
greatest creeds, descendants of the disciples of
Zoroaster, and the Persian fire worshipers, who sought
refuge in India from the persecution of the
all-conquering Mohammedans about the seventh century. It
is a curious fact that although the Parsis were
commercially the most enterprising people in India, and
the most highly educated at the time, they have never
attempted to propagate or even to make known their faith
to the world. The Parsis had undoubtedly made more stir
in the world in proportion to their population than any
other race. They were a small community, and number only
94,000 altogether in 1900, of whom 76,000 resided in
Bombay. They were almost without exception industrious
and prosperous, nearly all being engaged in trade and
manufacturing, and to them the city of Bombay owes the
greatest part of its wealth and commercial influence.
While the Parsis teach pure and lofty morality, and are famous for their
integrity, benevolence, good thoughts, good works and
good deeds, their method of disposing of their dead is
revolting. For, stripped of every thread of clothing,
the bodies of their nearest and dearest are exposed to
dozens of hungry vultures, which quickly tear the flesh
from the bones.
In a beautiful grove upon the top of a hill overlooking the city of Bombay
and the sea, surrounded by a high, ugly wall, are the
so-called Towers of Silence, upon which these hideous
birds can always be seen, waiting for their feast. They
roost upon palm trees in the neighborhood, and, often in
their flight, drop pieces of human flesh from their
beaks or their talons, which lie rotting in the fields
below.
Funeral ceremonies are held at the residence of the dead; prayers are
offered and eulogies are pronounced. Then a procession
is formed and the hearse is preceded by priests and
followed by the male members of the family and by
friends. The body is not placed in a coffin, but is
covered with rich shawls and vestments. When the gateway
of the outer temple is reached, priests who are
permanently attached to the Towers of Silence and reside
within the enclosure, meet the procession and take
charge of the body, which is first carried to a temple,
where prayers are offered, and a sacred fire, kept
continually burning there, is replenished. While the
friends and mourners are engaged in worship, Nasr Salars,
as the attendants are called, take the bier to the
ante-room of one of the towers. There are five, of
circular shape, with walls forty feet high, perfectly
plain, and whitewashed. The largest is 276 feet in. The
entrance is about fifteen or twenty feet from the ground
and is reached by a flight of steps. The inside plan of
the building resembles a circular gridiron gradually
depressed toward the center, at which there is a pit,
five feet in diameter. From this pit cement walks
radiate like the spokes of a wheel, and between them are
three series of compartments extending around the entire
tower. Those nearest the center are about four feet
long, two feet wide and six inches deep. The next series
are a little larger, and the third, larger still, and
they are intended respectively for men, women and
children.
When the bearers have brought the body into the anteroom of the tower they
strip it entirely of its clothing. Valuable coverings
are carefully laid away and sent to the chamber of
purification, where they are thoroughly fumigated, and
afterward returned to the friends. The cotton wrappings
are burned. The body is laid in one of the compartments
entirely naked, and in half an hour the flesh is
completely stripped from the bones by voracious birds
that have been eagerly watching the proceedings from the
tops of the tall palms that overlook the cemetery. There
are about two hundred vultures around the place; most of
them are old birds and are thoroughly educated. They
know exactly what to expect, and behave with greatest
decorum. They never enter the tower until the bearers
have left it, and usually are as deliberate and solemn
in their movements as a lot of undertakers. But
sometimes, when they are particularly hungry, their
greed gets the better of their dignity and they quarrel
and fight over their prey.
After the bones are stripped they are allowed to lie in the sun and bleach
and decay until the compartment they occupy is needed
for another body, when the Nasr Salars enter with gloves
and tongs and cast them into the central pit, where they
finally crumble into dust. The floor of the tower is so
arranged that all the rain that falls upon it passes
into the pit, and the moisture promotes decomposition.
The bottom of the pit is perforated and the water
impregnated with the dust from the bones is filtered
through charcoal and becomes thoroughly disinfected
before it is allowed to pass through a sewer into the
bay. The pits are the receptacles of the dust of
generations, and I am told that so much of it is drained
off by the rainfall, as described, that they have never
been filled. The carriers are not allowed to leave the
grounds, and when a man engages in that occupation he
must retire forever from the world, as much as if he
were a Trappist monk. Nor can he communicate with anyone
except the priests who have charge of the temple.
The grounds are beautifully laid out. No money or labor has been spared to
make them attractive, and comfortable benches have been
placed along the walks where relatives and friends may
sit and converse or meditate after the ceremonies are
concluded. The Parsis are firm believers in the
resurrection, and they expect their mutilated bodies to
rise again glorified and incorruptible. The theory upon
which their peculiar custom is based is veneration for
the elements. Fire is the chief object of their worship,
and they cannot allow it to be polluted by burning the
dead; water is almost as sacred, and the soil of the
earth is the source of their food, their strength and
almost everything that is beautiful. Furthermore, they
believe in the equality of all creatures before God, and
hence the dust of the rich and the poor mingles in the
pit.
Parsi temples are very plain and the form of worship is extremely simple.
None but members of the faith are admitted. The interior
of the temple is almost empty, except for a reading desk
occupied by the priest. The walls are without the
slightest decoration and are usually whitewashed. The
sacred fire, the emblem of spiritual life, which is
never extinguished, is kept in a small recess in a
golden receptacle, and is attended by priests without
interruption. They relieve each other every two hours,
but the fire is never left alone.
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