TOWERS OF SILENCE.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 17 July 1914, Page 2

TOWERS OF SILENCE.

Throughout India one sees thousands of curious towers. They are well named "towers of silence " because they are the last restingplace of the earthly remains of the Parsees. The largest of them is one which stands on the top of Malabar Hill at Bombay. It is one of a group of four; each cost from £20,000 to £30,000 to build. The largest measjres 276 ft, in circumference and •ome 25ft. in height, and is built in *be form of a perfect circle. About *ft. from the ground is a single aperture in the encircling wall, through which the dead- are cartied. The interior of these towers is curiously arranged. In the centre is a. deep well filled with many layers of charcoal and sand. On the ground, radiating from the well to the inner side of the circular wall, are arranged small compartments divided by stone walls. These are . depressed towards the centre like a funnel or an inverted cone. Next above the well, which is sft. in diameter, is a row 01 • shallow compartments, circularly arranged, with a narrow footpath around the outer side. Next to these is a second or middle row of compartments, a little larger in size, with a second circular footpath surrounding them, and then come a third, similarly arranged. They are all on an inclined plane dipping towards the centre. The inner of these compartments are for the bodies of children, the middle for females, and the outer for males. The funeral ceremonies are at once strange and weird. When a Parsee dies, be he rich or poor, his body is enveloped in a white shroud and placed on a wooden bier. This is carried by four men. all robed in white ; next follow two old men with long flowing white beards,; then come the • priests and relatives and friends to the number of several hundreds. Malabar Hill is beautifully situated on a picturesque peninsula about three miles from Bombay, and commands a magnificent view of that ■city and its surroundings. At the foot of the hill are groves in which many of the poorest people are allowed to live free of charge. Many of them, even get a supply of food free as Well. The hill itself is beautifully laid j out in gardens abounding in Tropical plants and flowering shrubs. When on the hill enjoying the beauties of Tropical India, one often sees a. funeral cortege winding its way in and out among the flowering, shrubs. The air is filled with strange, mournful sounds of mellow-toned bells and subdued moans as the procession draws nearer and nearer. Mournfully they glide past, climb the long flight of stone steps, and approach two by two the towers of silence. When within thirty yards', of the tower they all stop, for nearer it is not permitted for anyone—king, prince., or beggar to go, excepting the two white-bearded old men, who now take the corpse and proceed to the silent tower. They glide through the small aperture in the circular wall, and silently deposit their burden in its proper receptacle within the tower. They then unfasten the funeral shroud, and with averted faces remove the coverings of the dead, that the body may. be left in the tower as it came into the , world— naked. So careful are they that they put on gloves and use huge iron tongs with which to remove the robes, lest they should touch the unclean dead. They then silently withdraw, not to mingle with the mourners, but to a specially sanctified shrine, where they burn their clothing and wash their persons, that they may not pofrute the surroundings. These two repositors, though sacred themselves, are yet considered unclean, and never mingle in Parsee society. On the ground, under the shade of some wondrous palm or holy tree, are the relatives and friends of the deceased seated in mornful attitudes. They never approach nearer to the towers than thirty yards, for their scripture forbids it. After some little time, varying from one ( to many hours, the mourners gather at the Holy of Holies—a temple close by—where the sacred fire of sandalwood and incense, once lighteel from another sacred fire, never burns out. Tnese holy fires have been con- ! stantly burning for thousands of years. Here they worship and purify themselves, for is not death a i product- of evil, and must they not be pure that the evil influence may not come near them ! And so the Parsee funeral rites are over. But the poor body lies exposed in all its nakedness beneath the scorching rays of an Indian sun, for the towers are not covered, and the walls are only 25ft. high, which, in India, means not even a shady spot. But worse still. The body is no sooner deposited within the sacred towers than the sharp-beaked hideous vultures swoop down and devour it. in half an hour after the corpse is deposited, there remains nothing but the bones. These remain to dry anc! whiten in the sun and air, and r\re then raked into the deep and spacious will, to remain for evermore. Water trickles over them, and • th.ii passes through trie several layers of sand and charcoal, and \ finally finds its way to the sea be- I low as pure p.»id clear as before it I entered. So is their religion carried out—

dust to dust, the rich and the poor alike must meet in the towers, and in the well, and neither fire nor air, earth nor water, is befouled by the mortal clay of man, while the spirit soars in heaven with its Giver.— Spare Moments."