Fire-Worshipers in Bombay.
One of the features in Bombay is the Towers of Silence. The existence of these Towers of Silence is due to the curious system the Parsees have of dealing with their dead. They do not bury in the ground, for that would defile the earth, it being one of the four sacred elements which they venerate. Neither would they throw a body into the sea, which we do at times; nor into the river, which the Hindoos are in the habit of doing, for that would defile the water—another of the elements. Nor could they possibly burn their dead, for that would defile the fire, which to them is a peculiarly sacred element. To avoid these defilements, they build a tower, and the dead are placed on the top of it where they are out of sight, and yet where they may go through the process of decay, which would, no doubt, be rapid in a hot climate like India; but this rapidity is assisted by a colony of vultures, who keep possession of the palm-tree, and are ready to swoop down when a “silent” addition is made to these towers. There is a house attached called the suggree, in which prayer and some other sacred ceremonies are gone through for the dead. When the body is carried from this, the face is uncovered, so that all may have a last look; and no one, except the bearers of the body, is allowed to enter the door which leads to the upper part of these Towers of Silence. But who are the Parsees? The visitor is not long at Bombay before he comes familiar with the sight of the Parsees walking on the beach and saying their prayers to the sun. They walk about, each by himself, with the book in hand, muttering, in slightly audible words, the ritual of their religion. It is in the Zend language, which has come down to them much as the Latin has in the Catholic church, and is more or less a dead language. The expounders of the Parsee faith say that they only pay homage to the sun as the visible sign of the Supreme Deity, and that their worship of fire is dictated by the same rule; and that, in truth, it is to God, through these symbols, their devotion is given. They have temples where the sacred fire is kept, on which account they are called “fire-worshipers” as well as “sun-worshipers,” but no stranger is ever admitted to them. The fire is brought from the city of Yezd, in Persia, which is the sacred capital of religion, and from which they emigrated to escape the fury of Mohammedan zeal.—Ex.