subject: Tower of Silence – The Zoroastrian Resting Place for the Parsees of Mumbai [print this page] Tower of Silence The Zoroastrian Resting Place for the Parsees of Mumbai
The multi-cultural melting pot of Mumbai is an ungraceful yet fascinating collage of different traditions, religions, races, ethnicities and lifestyles, whose dichotomies go casually unnoticed by its denizens. Glass empires of corporate moguls are bordered by slums and heritage buildings both colonial and pre-colonial liberally pepper the cityscape. The blaring sounds of historic mosques, Hindu, Jain and Sikh temples add to the city's human cacophony as blithely as any of its market places or Bollywood concerts.
Yet, what would be off-putting in any other metropolis strangely only serves to enhance the compelling personality of the city. This is a place where each of the country's demographics and denominations that make up its bewildering diversity are represented and if not welcomed tolerated. One such symbol of a rapidly depleting demographic emerges in the form of the Towers of Silence.
These structures serve as the final resting grounds of the city's Zoroastrian Parsees. Parsees are a people descended from the Iranians who migrated to India near nine centuries ago, importing with them the Zoroastrian faith, which was eventually supplanted by Islam in its homeland. According to the Zoroastrian doctrine, earth and fire are considered "pure" elements which should not be polluted with the putrefaction of a decomposing human body. From this thinking stemmed the Parsian tradition of disposing of their dead by placing the bodies atop high towers for carrion birds to strip clean. These towers came to be called the "towers of silence".
The tower of silence that survives today in Mumbai was constructed during the 17th century by Seth Mod Hiriji, offering a place for its Zoroastrians denizens to perform last rites for their dead. Despite its morbid function, the tower is actually one of the most peaceful sites in the city and serves as a place where the spiritual meets the secular. The area at the top of the tower where the dead bodies are lain are traditionally strictly off-limits, but the building itself boasts very beautiful architecture and is set amid acres of tranquil greenery.
The towers are uniformly designed. Its roof is most flat, although the centre is set at a slightly lower level than the perimeter. The dead are laid in three concentric rings upon this roof, with the corpses of men laid on the outermost ring, women in the next ring and children in the centre. This area may only be entered by a special class of pallbearers called nasellars.
After the flesh has been stripped and the bones bleached by the elements, the remains are gathered into an ossuary pit at the tower's centre where they are allowed to disintegrate and the residue mixed with rain water flows through multiple filters of sand and coal before being washed out to sea.
The Tower of Silence is considered one of the most fascinating spots to visit in Mumbai today. Travellers staying in hotels in Mumbai and taking in the sights are strongly advised to visit this beautiful oasis of calm amid the chaos of the teeming metropolis. The Leela Kempinski Mumbai is a highly recommended choice among Mumbai luxury hotels which affords convenient access to this and other popular draws of the city.
