The Zoroastrians guide hold an odd means of disposing off their dead. They neither bury them nor cremate them. Instead , corpses are left atop high towers known equally dakhma , or Towers of Silence , where they are exposed to the elements together with consumed yesteryear scavenger birds such equally vultures , kites together with crows. This macabre funeral exercise arises from the belief that the dead are impure , non only physically because of decomposition , but because they are contaminated yesteryear the ‘corpse demon’ together with evil spirits who rush into the torso equally shortly equally the individual leaves. Burial together with cremation are therefore seen equally polluting nature together with burn , both of which the Zoroastrians thrive to protect. This reverence towards all things natural has led only about scholars to proclaim Zoroastrianism equally the "world's kickoff ecological religion."
A defunct Tower of Silence inwards Yazd , Iran. Photo credit: Photoroamings/Flickr
The Zoroastrian exercise of exposure of the dead , known equally dokhmenashini , was kickoff documented inwards the mid-5th century BCE yesteryear Herodotus , but the work of towers came much after inwards the early on ninth century.
Towers of Silence guide hold a apartment roof divided into 3 concentric rings where the naked bodies are set out —the outer band is for men , the key i for females together with the innermost for children. Once the scavenging birds had pecked away the flesh together with the exposed bones guide hold been bleached yesteryear the Sun together with air current , they are collected inwards an ossuary pit at the centre of the tower , where lime is added to permit the bones to gradually disintegrate. The entire procedure takes nearly a year. At the periphery of the dakhma , jutting out from the construction , are 4 channels through which the remaining cloth is flushed off yesteryear rainwater but exclusively after they guide hold run through multiple coal together with sand filters.
The ancient exercise survived alongside orthodox Zoroastrians inwards Islamic Republic of Iran until dakhmas were declared a wellness opportunity together with made illegal inwards the 1970s. It is silent goodness inwards Bharat yesteryear the Parsi people , who constitute the largest Zoroastrian population inwards the world. Rapid urbanization , even together with so , guide hold seat pressure level on the Parsis , together with this foreign ritual together with the correct to work Towers of Silence is a much debated number fifty-fifty alongside the Parsi community. But the biggest threat to dokhmenashini hasn’t come upward from wellness officials or from populace protestation but from the lack of vultures.
A Tower of Silence , inwards Doongerwadi , Bombay , visible from nearby high-rises. Photo credit: Dinodia Photos/Alamy
Vultures , who play an of import work inwards the disintegration of the corpses , guide hold been steadily declining inwards the Indian subcontinent since the 1990s. In 2008 , their numbers savage yesteryear a staggering 99 pct that confounded scientists , until it was discovered that a drug administered to cattle is fatal to vultures when they feed on the carcasses. The drug was banned yesteryear the Indian regime but the vulture population is yet to recover.
With no vultures left , only about Towers of Silence inwards Bharat guide hold installed powerful solar concentrators to dehydrate the torso faster. But the solar concentrators guide hold the unintended side termination of keeping away other scavenging birds such equally crows during the hateful solar daytime because of the heat. They likewise create non function during cloudy days. So a undertaking that would accept exclusively hours for a flock of vultures to consummate straightaway accept weeks , together with these slow decomposing bodies brand neighbors squeamish. Some Towers of Silence , that were originally situated on the outskirts of cities , straightaway prevarication squat inwards the middle population centers together with had to live unopen because of the smell.
Some Parsis guide hold straightaway started preferring cremation.
Printed drawing of 'Towers of Silence'. Photo credit: Wellcome Images/Wikimedia
One of the 2 Towers of Silence , Yazd , Iran. Photo credit: Fulvio Spada/Flickr
A Tower of Silence inwards India. Photo credit: poida.smith/Flickr
The pit of a Tower of Silence , Bombay. Photo credit: GSV/Flickr
The 2 Towers of Silence , inwards Yazd , Iran. Men on the left , women on the right. Photo credit: Julia Maudlin/Flickr
Photo credit: en.academic.ru
Sources: Wikipedia / Guardian / NPR