F A T H O M
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Y E A R N
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I N N O V A T E
IN SILENCE, THEY REST -Keerthi Kallanja
Within the calm of the crest of the Malabar hills, a posh area with skyrocketing rates for residential homes, lay in silence the famous cemetery of the Parsi religion: The Towers of Silence.
Life and Death. Stages that transcend beyond the mere existence and perishing of a being, manifest intimately for the Parsi community. The city’s Parsi community continues its 3000-yearold tradition of disposing the dead by exposure to scavenger birds, as a corpse is considered to be impure, both physically and spiritually, and cannot be buried either in land, sea or burnt. This form of a valedictory ritual for a demised person has its history, consequent practice and present difficulties. Built in the year 1672 by Seth Modi Hirji, a wealthy Parsi businessman, the towers of silence are circular structural precincts, spread across 55 acres in Mumbai. The word ‘tower’ gives the impression of a massive, imposing structure. But in contrast, the rather wide towers form a distinctive backdrop to the laid back landscape and residences. The towers are regarded as a space of holy and sacred importance. The approach with rising steps lead to the entrance porch of the tower. The roof of the tower, lower in the middle than the outer area, is divided into 3 concentric circles where the bodies are placed. The dead bodies are placed on stone beds with a pit in the center. The vultures drop off the bodies in the same pit, after they have eaten of the flesh. The bodies then disintegrate and decay naturally after added lime, washed off with rain water through filters of coal and sand, that finally reach the sea. 28
However, this customary ritual is slowly going out of practice due to the depleting number of vulture population. Moreover, the surrounding mushrooming of high rise towers in the area allows people to see the Towers of Silence and the decomposing corpses within, giving an unsettling feeling to the residents, that in turn, mounts extra pressure on the community to redevelop the site. This makes the age-old tradition quite dormant and these structures, as a result, are still standing without much use, as the Parsis today prefer other methods of cremation.
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1/ DECEMBER 2019
