Tower of Silence

thumb|Early 20th century drawing of the dakhma on Malabar Hill, Bombay (now Mumbai)|300x300px

thumb|338x338px|Interior view of dakhmaA dakhma (), also known as a Tower of Silence (), is a circular, raised structure built by Zoroastrians for excarnation (that is, the exposure of human corpses to the elements for decomposition), in order to avoid contamination of the soil and other natural elements by the dead bodies. Carrion birds, usually vultures, and other scavengers, consume the flesh.

Writing on the culture of the Persians, Herodotus reports on the Persian burial customs performed by the magi, again, kept secret, according to his account. However, he writes that he knows they expose the body of male dead to dogs and birds of prey, then they cover the corpse in wax, and then it is buried. The Achaemenid custom for the dead is recorded in the regions of Bactria, Sogdia, and Hyrcania, but not in Western Iran.

The discovery of ossuaries in both Eastern and Western Iran dating to the 5th and 4th centuries BCE indicate that bones were sometimes isolated, but separation occurring through ritual exposure cannot be assumed: burial mounds, where the bodies were wrapped in wax, have also been discovered. The tombs of the Achaemenid emperors at Naqsh-e Rustam and Pasargadae likewise suggest non-exposure, at least until the bones could be collected. According to legend (incorporated by Ferdowsi into his ; ), Zoroaster himself is interred in a tomb at Balkh (in present-day Afghanistan).

The Byzantine historian Agathias has described the Zoroastrian burial of the Sasanian general Mihr-Mihroe: "the attendants of Mermeroes took up his body and removed it to a place outside the city and laid it there as it was, alone and uncovered according to their traditional custom, as refuse for dogs and horrible carrion".

Towers are a much later invention and are first documented in the early 9th century CE. For this reason, the (an ecclesiastical code whose title means, 'given against the demons') has rules for disposing of the dead as safely as possible.

To preclude the pollution of the sacred elements: earth (), water (), and fire (), the bodies of the dead are placed at the top of towers and there exposed to the sun and to scavenging birds and necrophagous animals such as wild dogs.

In current times

Structure and process

Modern-day towers, which are fairly uniform in their construction, have an almost flat roof, with the perimeter being slightly higher than the centre. The roof is divided into three concentric rings: the bodies of men are arranged around the outer ring, women in the second ring, and children in the innermost ring. The ritual precinct may be entered only by a special class of pallbearers, called , from the , consisting of the word elements, ('caretaker') and ('pollutants').

Once the bones have been bleached by the sun and wind, which can take as long as a year, they are collected in an ossuary pit at the centre of the tower, where—assisted by lime—they gradually disintegrate, and the remaining material, along with rainwater run-off, seeps through multiple coal and sand filters before being eventually washed out to sea.

The precipitous decline in the vulture population in India due to poisoning has led the Parsi community to explore alternatives to standard dakhmas.

thumb|left|[[Yazd Tower of Silence, Iran. The building is no longer in use.]]

thumb|left|An early 20th century photograph of an Iranian tower of silence

Iran

thumb|The central pit of the (now-defunct) [[Yazd Tower of Silence, Iran]]

In the Iranian Zoroastrian tradition, the towers were built atop hills or low mountains in locations distant from population centres. In the early 20th century, Iranian Zoroastrians gradually discontinued their use and began to favour burial or cremation. there were no corpses for study available through official channels. The towers were repeatedly broken into, much to the dismay of the Zoroastrian community. Secondly, while the towers had been built away from population centres, the growth of the towns led to the towers now being within city limits. Following long negotiations between the societies of Kerman, and Tehran, the latter gained a majority and established a cemetery some from Tehran at Ghassr-e Firouzeh (Firouzeh's Palace). The graves were lined with rocks and plastered with cement to prevent direct contact with the earth. In Kerman, older orthodox Zoroastrians continued to maintain a tower for a few years after a cemetery was built. Yazdi Zoroastrians continued using the Tower of Silence until the city asked them to close it in 1974.

India

thumb|A late-19th-century engraving of a Zoroastrian Tower of Silence in [[Mumbai (then Bombay)]]

Following the rapid expansion of the Indian cities, the squat buildings are today in or near population centres, but separated from the metropolitan bustle by gardens or forests. In Parsi Zoroastrian tradition, exposure of the dead is also considered to be an individual's final act of charity, providing the birds with what would otherwise be destroyed.

In the late 20th century and early 21st century, the vulture population on the Indian subcontinent declined by over 97% as of 2008, primarily due to diclofenac poisoning of the birds following the introduction of that drug for livestock in the 1990s, until banned for cattle by the Government of India in 2006. The few surviving birds are often unable to fully consume the bodies. In 2001, Parsi communities in India were evaluating captive breeding of vultures and the use of "solar concentrators" (which are essentially large mirrors) to accelerate decomposition. Some have been forced to resort to burial, as the solar collectors work only in clear weather. Vultures used to dispose of a body in minutes, and no other method has proved fully effective.

The right to use the Towers of Silence is a much-debated issue among the Parsi community. The facilities are usually managed by the , the predominantly conservative local Zoroastrian associations. These usually consist of a nine-member board, including five priests. In accordance with Indian statutes, these associations have domestic authority over trust properties and have the right to grant or restrict entry and use, with the result that the associations frequently prohibit the use by the offspring of a "mixed marriage", that is, where one parent is a Parsi and the other is not.

The towers remain in use as sacred locations for the Parsi community. Organized tours can be taken to the site. Non-members may not enter the towers; in Mumbai, visitors are shown a model of a tower.

Tower of Silence

In current times

Structure and process

Iran

India

See also

References

Further reading