Tower of Silence

{{Short description|Zoroastrian excarnation structure}} {{Other uses}} {{more citations needed|date=November 2017}} [[File:Parsee Tower of Silence, Bombay.jpg|thumb|Early 20th century drawing of the ''dakhma'' on Malabar Hill, Bombay (now Mumbai)|300x300px]]{{Zoroastrianism sidebar}} [[File:Interior view of Tower of Silence.jpg|thumb|338x338px|Interior view of ''dakhma'']]A '''''dakhma''''' ({{langx|fa|دخمه}}), also known as a '''Tower of Silence''' ({{langx|fa|برجِ خاموشان}}), is a circular, raised structure built by [[Zoroastrians]] for [[excarnation]] (that is, the [[Disposal of the dead|exposure of human corpses]] to the [[Weather|elements]] for [[decomposition]]), in order to avoid contamination of the soil and other natural elements by the dead bodies.<ref name="Russell-2000">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Russell |first=James R. |author-link=James R. Russell |title=BURIAL iii. In Zoroastrianism |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/burial-iii |volume=IV/6 |pages=561–563 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |publisher=[[Columbia University]] |location=[[New York City|New York]] |date=1 January 2000 |issn=2330-4804 |access-date=28 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517012152/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/burial-iii |archive-date=17 May 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Huff-2004">{{cite book |last1=Huff |first1=Dietrich |year=2004 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sNqmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA593 |editor-last=Stausberg |editor-first=Michael |editor-link=Michael Stausberg |title=Zoroastrian Rituals in Context |chapter=Archaeological Evidence of Zoroastrian Funerary Practices |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |series=Numen Book Series |volume=102 |pages=593–630 |doi=10.1163/9789047412502_027 |isbn=90-04-13131-0 |issn=0169-8834 |lccn=2003055913}}</ref><ref name="Malandra-2013">{{cite book |last=Malandra |first=W. W. |year=2013 |chapter=Iran |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1xbAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA122 |editor-last=Spaeth |editor-first=Barbette Stanley |editor-link=Barbette Spaeth |title=The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Mediterranean Religions |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=122 |doi=10.1017/CCO9781139047784.009 |isbn=978-0-521-11396-0 |lccn=2012049271}}</ref> [[Scavenger|Carrion birds]], usually [[vulture]]s, and other scavengers, consume the flesh.<ref name="Russell-2000"/><ref name="Huff-2004"/> Skeletal remains are gathered into a central pit where further weathering and continued breakdown occurs.<ref name="Russell-2000"/><ref name="Huff-2004"/>

==Ritual exposure by Iranian peoples== {{Main|Ancient Persia|Zoroastrians in Iran}}

Zoroastrian [[ritual]] [[Disposal of the dead|exposure of the dead]] is first attested in the mid-5th century BCE [[Histories (Herodotus)|''Histories'']] of [[Herodotus]], an [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] [[historian]] who observed the custom amongst [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] expatriates in [[Asia Minor]] (however, there is no mention of the use of towers, as this is first documented in the early 9th century CE).<ref name="Russell-2000"/><ref name="Huff-2004"/> In Herodotus' account (in ''Histories'' i.140), the Zoroastrian funerary rites are said to have been "secret"; however they were first performed after the body had been dragged around by a bird or dog. The corpse was then [[Embalming#Religious practices|embalmed]] with wax and laid in a trench.<ref name="stausberg 2004">{{cite book |last1=Stausberg |first1=Michael |title=Die Religion Zarathushtras: Geschichte, Gegenwart, Rituale |date=2004 |publisher=Verlag W. Kohlhammer |location=Stuttgart |isbn=978-3170171206 |chapter=Bestattungsanlagen|pages=204–245|volume=3}}</ref>

Writing on the culture of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]], [[Herodotus]] reports on the Persian burial customs performed by the [[magi]], again, kept secret, according to his account. However, he writes that he knows they expose the body of male dead to dogs and birds of prey, then they cover the corpse in wax, and then it is buried.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/herodotus-iii|title=Herodotus iii. Defining the Persians |encyclopedia= Encyclopaedia Iranica|edition=online|access-date=24 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129214830/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/herodotus-iii|archive-date=29 January 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The Achaemenid custom for the dead is recorded in the regions of [[Bactria]], [[Sogdia]], and [[Hyrcania]], but not in Western Iran.<ref name=iranica-mihrmihroe /><ref name="Grenet 2000">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Grenet |first1=Frantz |title=BURIAL ii. Remnants of Burial Practices in Ancient Iran |pages=559–561 |date=January 2000 |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/burial-ii |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |volume=IV|id=Fasc. 5–6}}</ref>

The discovery of [[Ossuary|ossuaries]] in both [[Eastern Iran|Eastern]] and [[Western Iran]] dating to the 5th and 4th centuries BCE indicate that bones were sometimes isolated, but separation occurring through ritual exposure cannot be assumed: burial mounds,<ref>{{citation|last=Falk|first=Harry|title=Soma I and II|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies|volume=52|issue=1|date=1989|pages=77–90|doi=10.1017/s0041977x00023077|s2cid=146512196 }}</ref> where the bodies were wrapped in wax, have also been discovered. The tombs of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid emperors]] at [[Naqsh-e Rustam]] and [[Pasargadae]] likewise suggest non-exposure, at least until the bones could be collected. According to legend (incorporated by [[Ferdowsi]] into his {{Transliteration|fa|[[Shahnameh]]}}; {{lit.|The Book of Kings}}), [[Zoroaster]] himself is interred in a tomb at [[Balkh]] (in present-day [[Afghanistan]]).

The [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] historian [[Agathias]] has described the Zoroastrian burial of the [[Military of the Sasanian Empire|Sasanian general]] [[Mihr-Mihroe]]: "the attendants of Mermeroes took up his body and removed it to a place outside the city and laid it there as it was, alone and uncovered according to their traditional custom, as refuse for dogs and horrible carrion".<ref name=iranica-mihrmihroe>''[[Encyclopaedia Iranica]]'', edited by Ehsan Yar-Shater, Routledge & Kegan Paul Volume 6, Parts 1–3, p. 281a.</ref><ref name="Boyce mihroe">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Boyce |first1=Mary |title=CORPSE, disposal of, in Zoroastrianism |orig-date=First published 15 December 1993 |pages=279–286 |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/corpse-disposal-of-in-zoroastrianism |date=October 31, 2011 |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |volume=VI |id=Fasc. 3|quote=Agathias described at second hand the disposal of the body of the Persian general Mihr-Mihrōē, who died in 555: 'Then the attendants of Mihr-Mihrōē took up his body and removed it to a place outside the city and laid it there as it was, alone and uncovered according to their traditional custom, as refuse for dogs and horrible carrion birds'{{hairspace}} }}</ref> Towers are a much later invention and are first documented in the early 9th century CE.<ref name="Boyce 1975"/> The funerary ritual customs surrounding that practice appear to date to the [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanid era]] (3rd–7th CE). They are known in detail from the supplement to the ''[[Shayest ne Shayest]]'', the two ''[[Rivayat]]'' collections, and the two ''Saddar''s.

One of the earliest literary descriptions of such a building appears in the late 9th-century [[Epistles of Manushchihr]], where the technical term is {{lang|pal|astodan}}, 'ossuary'. Another term that appears in the 9th- to 10th-century texts of Zoroastrian tradition (the so-called "[[Pahlavi books]]") is {{lang|pal|dakhmag}}; in its earliest usage, it referred to any place for the dead.

==Rationale== The doctrinal rationale for exposure is to avoid contact with earth, water, or fire, all three of which are considered sacred in the Zoroastrian religion.<ref name="Huff-2004"/><ref name="Malandra-2013"/>

Zoroastrian tradition considers human [[cadaver]]s and animal corpses (in addition to cut hair and nail parings) to be ''[[Nasu (Zoroastrianism)|nasu]]'', i.e. unclean, polluting.<ref name="Russell-2000"/><ref name="Huff-2004"/><ref name="Malandra-2013"/> Specifically, {{lang|ae|Nasu}} the corpse demon ({{lang|ae|[[daeva]]}}), is believed to rush into the body and contaminate everything it comes into contact with.<ref name="Malandra-2013"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Brodd |first=Jeffrey |title=World Religions |publisher=Saint Mary's Press |date=2003 |location=Winona, MN, USA |isbn=978-0-88489-725-5}}</ref> For this reason, the {{lang|ae|[[Videvdad|Vīdēvdād]]}} (an ecclesiastical code whose title means, 'given against the demons') has rules for disposing of the dead as safely as possible.<ref name="Russell-2000"/> Moreover, the {{lang|ae|Vīdēvdād}} requires that graves, and raised tombs as well, must be destroyed.<ref name="Russell-2000"/><ref name="Boyce 1975">{{cite book |last=Boyce |first=Mary |title=A history of Zoroastrianism: Early period |date=1975 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=9789004294004 |pages=156–165, 325–330 |chapter=The Zoroastrian Funeral Rites |volume=1|doi=10.1163/9789004294004_014}}</ref>

To preclude the pollution of the sacred elements: earth ({{lang|ae|[[zam|zām]]}}), water ({{lang|ae|[[aban|āpas]]}}), and fire ({{lang|ae|[[Atar|ātar]]}}), the bodies of the dead are placed at the top of towers and there exposed to the sun and to scavenging birds and [[necrophagous]] animals such as wild dogs.<ref name="Russell-2000"/><ref name="Huff-2004"/><ref name="Malandra-2013"/> Thus, as an early-20th-century Secretary of the Bombay Parsi community explained: "[[putrefaction]] with all its concomitant evils ... is most effectually prevented."<ref name="jjmodi">{{citation|last=Modi|first=Jivanji Jamshedji |mode=cs1 |title=The Funeral Ceremonies of the Parsees |date=1928|publisher=Anthropological Society of Bombay |type= Monograph |edition=Fourth |url=https://www.avesta.org/ritual/funeral.htm|access-date=2005-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050207235536/http://avesta.org/ritual/funeral.htm|archive-date=2005-02-07|url-status=live}} * {{cite book|last1=Modi|first1=Jivanji Jamshedji |date=2011 |orig-date=Reprint of 2nd edition (1937), originally published by Jehangir B. Karani's Sons: Bombay |editor1-last=Peterson|editor1-first=Joseph H.|title=The Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the Parsees |ref=none |publisher=Avesta.org|location=Kasson, Minnesota, US|url=https://zoroastrians.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/religious-ceremonies-jj-modi.pdf|pages=55–58}}{{ubl|In the explanation quoted, Modi quotes from a "short description of the tower with a plan as given by Mr. Nusserwanjee Byrawjee, the late energetic Secretary of the public charity funds and properties of the Parsi community." (p. 57).}}</ref>

==In current times== ===Structure and process=== Modern-day towers, which are fairly uniform in their construction, have an almost flat roof, with the perimeter being slightly higher than the centre. The roof is divided into three concentric rings: the bodies of men are arranged around the outer ring, women in the second ring, and children in the innermost ring. The ritual precinct may be entered only by a special class of [[pallbearer]]s, called {{lang|ae|nusessalars}}, from the {{langx|ae|nasa a salar|italic=yes}}, consisting of the word elements, {{lang|ae|-salar}} ('caretaker') and {{lang|ae|nasa-}} ('pollutants').

Once the bones have been bleached by the sun and wind, which can take as long as a year, they are collected in an [[ossuary]] pit at the centre of the tower, where—assisted by [[Lime (material)|lime]]—they gradually disintegrate, and the remaining material, along with rainwater run-off, seeps through multiple coal and sand filters before being eventually washed out to sea.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sunavala |first1=Nergish |title=Defunct Tower of Silence lives on in the heart of an Andheri residential colony |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/defunct-tower-of-silence-lives-on-in-the-heart-of-an-andheri-residential-colony/articleshow/44954598.cms |access-date=1 May 2022 |work=The Times of India |date=28 October 2014 |language=en}}</ref>{{r|jjmodi}}

The precipitous decline in the vulture population in India due to poisoning has led the Parsi community to explore alternatives to standard dakhmas.<ref name="guard">{{Cite news |issn=1756-3224 |oclc=60623878 |language=en-GB |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |department=Pakistan |accessdate=2024-05-19 |date=2024-05-04 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/04/vulture-shortage-threatens-zoroastrian-burial-rites-india-iran-pakistan |title='Our culture is dying': vulture shortage threatens Zoroastrian burial rites |first=Sonia |last=Gulzeb}}</ref> [[File:Torre del silencio, Yazd, Irán, 2016-09-21, DD 65.jpg|thumb|left|[[Yazd Tower of Silence]], Iran. The building is no longer in use.]] [[File:Doodentoren van de Zoroastriërs.jpg|thumb|left|An early 20th century photograph of an Iranian tower of silence]]

===Iran=== [[File:Tower of Silence (Yazd) 006.jpg|thumb|The central pit of the (now-defunct) [[Yazd Tower of Silence]], Iran]] In the Iranian Zoroastrian tradition, the towers were built atop hills or low mountains in locations distant from population centres. In the early 20th century, Iranian Zoroastrians gradually discontinued their use and began to favour burial or [[cremation]].<ref name="Boyce 1979"/>

The decision to change the system was accelerated by three considerations: the first problem arose with the establishment of the [[Dar ul-Funun (Persia)|Dar ul-Funun]] medical school. Since Islam considers dissection of corpses as an unnecessary form of mutilation, thus forbidding it,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aramesh |first=Kiarash |date=30 May 2009 |title=The Ownership of Human Body: An Islamic Perspective |journal=Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine |volume=2 |page=4 |pmid=23908718 |pmc=3713940 }}</ref> there were no corpses for study available through official channels. The towers were repeatedly broken into, much to the dismay of the Zoroastrian community.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} Secondly, while the towers had been built away from population centres, the growth of the towns led to the towers now being within city limits.<ref name="Boyce 1979"/> Finally, many of the Zoroastrians found the system outdated.<ref name="Boyce 1979">Boyce, Mary (1979), Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, London: Routledge, pp. 221–222</ref> Following long negotiations between the {{lang|ae|anjuman}} societies of [[Kerman]], and [[Tehran]], the latter gained a majority and established a cemetery some {{convert|10|km}} from Tehran at Ghassr-e Firouzeh (Firouzeh's Palace). The graves were lined with rocks and plastered with cement to prevent direct contact with the earth. In Kerman, older orthodox Zoroastrians continued to maintain a tower for a few years after a cemetery was built. Yazdi Zoroastrians continued using the Tower of Silence until the city asked them to close it in 1974.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kestenberg Amighi |first=Janet |title=The Zoroastrians of Iran: A history of transformation and survival |publisher=Mazda Press |year=2022}}</ref>

===India=== {{see also|Indian vulture crisis}} [[File:BombayTempleOfSilenceEngraving.jpg|thumb|A late-19th-century engraving of a Zoroastrian Tower of Silence in [[Mumbai]] (then Bombay)]] Following the rapid expansion of the Indian cities, the squat buildings are today in or near population centres, but separated from the metropolitan bustle by gardens or forests. In [[Parsi people|Parsi]] Zoroastrian tradition, exposure of the dead is also considered to be an individual's final act of charity, providing the birds with what would otherwise be destroyed.

In the late 20th century and early 21st century, the [[Indian vulture crisis|vulture population on the Indian subcontinent declined]] by over 97% as of 2008, primarily due to [[diclofenac]] poisoning of the birds following the introduction of that drug for livestock in the 1990s,<ref>{{cite news|last=Tait |first=Malcolm |title=India's vulture population is facing catastrophic collapse and with it the sacrosanct corporeal passing of the Parsi dead |date=10 October 2004 |work=The Ecologist |url=https://theecologist.org/2004/oct/01/fate-indias-vultures |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927223031/http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=325 |archive-date=27 September 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=David|last=Adam|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/jan/31/india.conservationandendangeredspecies| title=Cattle drug blamed as India's vultures near extinction|newspaper=The Guardian| date=31 January 2006}}</ref> until banned for cattle by the [[Government of India]] in 2006. The few surviving birds are often unable to fully consume the bodies.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Swan |first1=Gerry |last2=Naidoo |first2=Vinasan |last3=Cuthbert |first3=Richard |last4=Green |first4=Rhys E |last5=Pain |first5=Deborah J |last6=Swarup |first6=Devendra |last7=Prakash |first7=Vibhu |last8=Taggart |first8=Mark |last9=Bekker |first9=Lizette |last10=Das |first10=Devojit |last11=Diekmann |first11=Jörg |last12=Diekmann |first12=Maria |last13=Killian |first13=Elmarié |last14=Meharg |first14=Andy |last15=Patra |first15=Ramesh Chandra |last16=Saini |first16=Mohini |last17=Wolter |first17=Kerri |title=Removing the threat of diclofenac to critically endangered Asian vultures |journal=PLOS Biology |date=January 2006 |page=e66 |volume=4 |issue=3 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040066 |pmid=16435886|pmc=1351921|display-authors=3 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2001, Parsi communities in India were evaluating [[captive breeding]] of vultures and the use of "solar concentrators" (which are essentially large mirrors) to accelerate decomposition.<ref>{{citation|last=Srivastava|first=Sanjeev|title=Parsis turn to solar power|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1443789.stm|date=18 July 2001|periodical=BBC News South Asia|access-date=9 September 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060630211902/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1443789.stm|archive-date=30 June 2006|url-status=live}}</ref> Some have been forced to resort to burial, as the solar collectors work only in clear weather. Vultures used to dispose of a body in minutes, and no other method has proved fully effective.

The right to use the Towers of Silence is a much-debated issue among the Parsi community. The facilities are usually managed by the {{lang|ae|anjumans}}, the predominantly conservative local Zoroastrian associations. These usually consist of a nine-member board, including five priests. In accordance with Indian statutes, these associations have domestic authority over trust properties and have the right to grant or restrict entry and use, with the result that the associations frequently prohibit the use by the offspring of a "mixed marriage", that is, where one parent is a Parsi and the other is not.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://brill.com/view/book/9789004491274/back-1.xml|last1=Palsetia |first1=Jesse S. |title=The Parsis of India: Preservation of identity in Bombay city |date=2001 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=9789004491274 |pages=320–337 |chapter=Epilogue: Identity and the Present-Day Parsis |doi=}}</ref>

The towers remain in use as sacred locations for the Parsi community.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.101india.com/people/my-visit-tower-silence-helped-me-come-terms-death |title=My Visit To The Tower Of Silence Helped Me Come To Terms With Death |access-date=2020-12-09 |archive-date=2021-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126054456/https://www.101india.com/people/my-visit-tower-silence-helped-me-come-terms-death |url-status=dead }}</ref> Organized tours can be taken to the site.<ref>{{cite news |author1=|title=Citizen groups oppose heritage tour of Parsi Tower of Silence |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/citizen-groups-oppose-heritage-tour-of-parsi-tower-of-silence/story-FWgvfu1izNo6Wacu68Kd2M.html |work=Hindustan Times |publisher=HT Digital Streams Ltd |date=10 December 2016 |location=New Delhi, India}}</ref> Non-members may not enter the towers;<ref>[https://beyonder.travel/india/sky-burial-tower-of-silence-and-birds-of-prey/ Tower of Silence, Sky Burial and Birds of Prey]</ref> in [[Mumbai]], visitors are shown a model of a tower.<ref>{{cite news |title=Protests don't hinder heritage walk at Tower of Silence |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/protests-don-t-hinder-heritage-walk-at-tower-of-silence/story-LqQV2Trhft6pHEdO2MfGRN.html |work=Hindustan Times |date=12 December 2016 |language=en}}</ref>

== See also == * [[Burial tree]] * {{annotated link|Disposal of human corpses}} * [[Fire temple]], Zoroastrian place of worship * [[Natural burial]] * [[Seth Modi Hirji Vachha]], builder of the first Bombay (Mumbai) {{lang|ae|dakhma}} (1672) * [[Sky burial]] * {{lang|ae|[[Vayu-Vata|Vāyu-Vāta]]}}, ''air'' ({{lang|ae|vāyu}}) as a sacred element and the Zoroastrian divinity of ''wind''

== References == {{Reflist|28em}}

==Further reading== {{Commons category|Towers of Silence}} {{Wiktionary}}

{{refbegin}}  * [https://www.avesta.org/vendidad/vd5sbe.htm ''Vendidad'' Fargard 5, Purity Laws], as translated by [[James Darmesteter]] * {{citation|last=Wadia|first=Azmi|chapter=Evolution of the Towers of Silence and their Significance|editor-last=Godrej|editor-first=Pheroza J.|editor2-last=Mistree|editor2-first=Firoza Punthakey|title=A Zoroastrian Tapestry|location=New York|publisher=Mapin|date=2002}} ** Excerpted in {{cite magazine|title=''A Zoroastrian Tapestry'' (book extract) |magazine=The Hindu - Sunday Magazine |url= http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2002/07/21/stories/2002072100130200.htm|date=21 July 2002|archive-date=7 January 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030107132954/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2002/07/21/stories/2002072100130200.htm}} * Lucarelli, Fosco (February 9, 2012). [https://web.archive.org/web/20161119174530/http://socks-studio.com/2012/02/09/towers-of-silence-zoroastrian-architectures-for-the-ritual-of-death/ "Towers of Silence: Zoroastrian Architectures for the Ritual of Death"], ''Socks-Studio'' * {{citation|last1=Kotwal|first1=Firoze M.|last2=Mistree|first2=Khojeste P.|chapter=Protecting the Physical World|pages=337–365|editor-last=Godrej|editor-first=Pheroza J.|editor2-last=Mistree|editor2-first=Firoza Punthakey|title=A Zoroastrian Tapestry|location=New York|publisher=Mapin|date=2002}} * {{cite journal|author1= منصور خواجه پور [Khajepour, Mansour]|author2= زینب رئوفی [Raoufi, Zeinab]|title=راهبردی نظری برای باززنده‌سازی دخمه‌های زرتشتیان در ایران (نمونۀ موردی : دخمۀ زرتشتیان کرمان)|journal=ماهنامه علمی پژوهشی باغ نظر [Bagh-e-Nazar: The Scientific Journal of NAZAR research center for Art, Architecture & Urbanism]|date=June 2018|volume=15|issue=61|pages=57–70|doi=10.22034/bagh.2018.63865|trans-title=A Theoretical Approach to Restoration of Zoroastrians' Tower of Silence (Dakhma) in Iran (A Case study of tower of silence of Kerman)|language=fa, en}} * Harris, Gardiner (29 November 2012). [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/world/asia/cultivating-vultures-to-restore-a-mumbai-ritual.html "Giving New Life to Vultures to Restore a Human Ritual of Death"], ''The New York Times'' * {{Skeptoid| id=4323| number=323| title= 8 Spooky Places, and Why They're Like That| date= August 14, 2012| quote= 1. Zoroastrian Towers of Silence| access-date=}} * {{citation|last=Boyce|first=Mary|author-link=Mary Boyce|title=Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices|publisher=Routledge|location=London|date=1979|pages=156–162}} * {{citation|last=Boyce|first=Mary|chapter=Death among Zoroastrians|title=Encyclopædia Iranica|volume=7|date=1996|issue=2|location=Cosa Mesa|publisher=Mazda|chapter-url=http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v7f2/v7f263.html|access-date=2007-08-15|archive-date=2007-11-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106095624/http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v7f2/v7f263.html|url-status=dead}} {{refend}} {{Authority control}}

[[Category:Death customs]] [[Category:Persian words and phrases]] [[Category:Religion and death]] [[Category:Towers in India]] [[Category:Towers in Iran]] [[Category:Zoroastrianism]]