In The Towers Of Silence, An Ancient Ritual Of Death Comes Under Threat

The viability of the centuries-old Zoroastrian custom of allowing vultures to consume the corpses of its devotees has been called into question after a relative of one of the dead discovered piles of rotting bodies lying almost untouched by the birds.

Dhun Baria, a member of Bombay's Zoroastrian community, known as Parsis, was shocked to be told that the body of her mother had lain untouched for nine months after she was laid to rest at the Towers of Silence, a stone well in Bombay where the dead are laid out for the vultures.

The Parsi community has been facing mounting difficulties over how to cope with their dead — about 1,000 a year — since India's vulture population suffered a catastrophic decline in the 1990s.

Graphic new photographs from inside the Towers — which according to strict rules only Khandiyas, or pall bearers, are allowed to enter — has led to liberal Parsis questioning whether the community should now cremate or bury its dead.

The pictures show piles of rotting corpses, some with the eyes gouged out by crows and other scavengers.

According to the tenets of the religion founded in ancient Persia by the prophet Zarathustra in the 7th century BC, the bodies should be picked clean in four days in order to release the spirit of the deceased.

Mrs Baria, a 65-year-old social worker, has been branded a blasphemer by orthodox Parsis for distributing the pictures in leaflets given to worshippers entering Zoroastrian fire temples in Bombay.

"The pall bearers told me that my mother's body was still inside, nothing had changed. They said she was going to be there for years," she said.

"If your wife, who you sleep with, or your son who you have lived with, were to die tomorrow, would you be able to bear it if they were in that state?"

The introduction of solar panels to speed up the desiccation and decomposition of the bodies has only partially solved the problem, as during the long monsoon months there is insufficient sunshine for them to be effective.

The fall in vulture numbers has been linked to the widespread use of a bovine painkiller, diclofenac, which poisons the birds when they feed on the carcasses of fallen livestock.

Despite the furore caused by Mrs Baria's pictures and other campaigns, traditionalists have firmly rejected calls for a change to the burial rites.

"We Parsis are a conservative lot," said Minoo Shroff, the chairman of the Parsi Panchayat, or governing council, in Bombay. "In spite of our education and eminence in public life, we cannot accept change in our customs so quickly. It must take time."

But the deteriorating situation — and what some argue to be a growing health risk — has caused some reformist Parsis to call for changes that reflect modern realities.

"The system has failed miserably and people are getting upset," said Jehangir Patel, the editor of Parsiana magazine. "More people are asking questions about bodies lying and rotting and left there."

Homi Mehta, a 32-year-old Parsi architect, said his faith in the funeral rites has been shaken by the dispute.

"If someone I loved died during the monsoon, I wouldn't want them to be left hanging there," he said.

Very interesting. This reminded me of something I was reading just the other day on Tibetan Buddhism:

Stupa burial and cremation are reserved for high lamas who are being honored in death. Sky burial is the usual means for disposing of the corpses of commoners. Sky burial is not considered suitable for children who are less than 18, pregnant women, or those who have died of infectious disease or accident. The origin of sky burial remains largely hidden in Tibetan mystery.

Sky burial is a ritual that has great religious meaning. Tibetans are encouraged to witness this ritual, to confront death openly and to feel the impermanence of life. Tibetans believe that the corpse is nothing more than an empty vessel. The spirit, or the soul, of the deceased has exited the body to be reincarnated into another circle of life. It is believed that the Drigung Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism established the tradition in this land of snow, although there are other versions of its origin.

The corpse is offered to the vultures. It is believed that the vultures are Dakinis. Dakinis are the Tibetan equivalent of angels. In Tibetan, Dakini means "sky dancer". Dakinis will take the soul into the heavens, which is understood to be a windy place where souls await reincarnation into their next lives. This donation of human flesh to the vultures is considered virtuous because it saves the lives of small animals that the vultures might otherwise capture for food. Sakyamuni, one of the Buddhas, demonstrated this virtue. To save a pigeon, he once fed a hawk with his own flesh.

After death, the deceased will be left untouched for three days. Monks will chant around the corpse. Before the day of sky burial, the corpse will be cleaned and wrapped in white cloth. The corpse will be positioned in a fetal position, the same position in which the person had been born. The ritual of sky burial usually begins before dawn. Lamas lead a ritual procession to the charnel ground, chanting to guide the soul. There are few charnel grounds in Tibet. They are usually located near monasteries. Few people would visit charnel grounds except to witness sky burials. Few would want to visit these places.

After the chanting, the body breakers prepare the body for consumption by the vultures. The body is unwrapped and the first cut is made on the back. Hatchets and cleavers are used to quickly cut the body up, in a definite and precise way. Flesh is cut into chunks of meat. The internal organs are cut into pieces. Bones are smashed into splinters and then mixed with tsampa, roasted barley flour.

As the body breakers begin, juniper incense is burned to summon the vultures for their tasks, to eat breakfast and to be Dakinis. During the process of breaking up the body, those ugly and enormous birds circle overhead, awaiting their feast. They are waved away by the funeral party, usually consisting of the friends of the deceased, until the body breakers have completed their task. After the body has been totally separated, the pulverized bone mixture is scattered on the ground. The birds land and hop about, grabbing for food. To assure ascent of the soul, the entire body of the deceased should be eaten. After the bone mixture, the organs are served next, and then the flesh.

This mystical tradition arouses curiosity among those who are not Tibetan. However, Tibetans strongly object to visits by the merely curious. Only the funeral party will be present at the ritual. Photography is strictly forbidden. Tibetans believe that photographing the ritual might negatively affect the ascent of the soul.

You have to wonder about the connection and communication. This was found at this web site

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