[SunkenCiv]

Thanks odds.

In the January 2002 Fortean Times there's an article on the Griffon vulture problem.

Dead Parsees are carried on a simple bier to a ceremonial gate into the private jungle park of banyan and casarina trees in the city's posh Malabar Hill district, wich surrounds the five Towers of Silence... However, with an average of three Parsees dying every day, the six-odd vultures at the towers are overfed and unable to cope, although kites and other birds help out.

All Consuming Faith
by Debora MacKenzie
5 August 2000
New Scientist magazine

Griffon vultures are dying across India, apparently succumbing to a mysterious illness. Wildlife experts are becoming increasingly concerned about the viability of one species in particular. But for India's ancient Parsee religion the vultures' decline poses a more practical problem. Parsees, the religious descendants of the Zoroastrians of ancient Persia, rely on vultures to dispose of their dead, and the bodies are piling up.

[odds]

Thanks SC.

The use of Towers of Silence – “Dakhma” is now only practiced by Zoroastrians in India - and there too, other methods are being explored and used.

(N.B. - Parsee or Parsi Zoroastrians immigrated to India starting around early 8th century AD. So, some have retained their ancient practices, particularly Orthodox individuals/families. Parsis, in some instances, have also adopted Hindu or Indian practices, incorporating them into their own traditional Zoroastrian ones.)

Towers of Silence were traditionally built in desert areas, in Iran, centuries ago so as to avoid, for example, the problem you mentioned. This practice is no longer used. In Iran, Zoroastrians either bury the dead body in a coffin or use cremation.

Among the many factors that are contributing to the decline in the use of dakhmas by Zoroastrians are:

- the diaspora of Zoroastrians to countries where the practice is impractical or inappropriate,

- the encroachment of urban areas into the previously secluded dakhma locations,

- the excessive use of medical drugs for dying individuals - drugs that are toxic to birds, or

- a lack of birds in some locations, and

- a change in attitude among Zoroastrians (in India, i.e. the Parsis/Parsees)

The link to the webpage has very specific, accurate & thorough related information & has many photos on Towers of Silence. It is the same website (last link) I provided in post #44.

The website, in general, is very much worth exploring about Zoroastrianism, its festivals, practices, traditions, etc... and is regularly updated with upcoming events, and so forth.

A Zoroastrian cemetery in Yazd province – Iran