Visit Towers of Silence in Iran When Traveling in Iran
When you are traveling in Iran, make sure you arrange for a trip to central Iran
and south east so that you get to see towers of silence at the vicinity of some of the ancient towns and villages. At the community of Zoroastrians where people were living in towns or villages, like in any other human settlements, they needed a place to treat their dead bodies.Exposure, Not Burial
Zoroastrians believe in keeping four elements clean in the nature: water, air, earth and light. So, they are not going to contaminate them. Instead, they keep them pure and protect them against impurities.
When a corpse decomposes, it can penetrate the adjacent earth and make it unclean. So, there should have been a different method to treat the dead bodies. As Zoroastrians believe that human body is a vessel for the soul, when a person dies, the most valuable part is gone and the physical vessel does not have any place in the realm of the next world. This is because of the spiritual quality of the other world.
Therefore, the body, which decays, should not be places at a point where one of the sacred elements could be made unclean. In other words, the earth and underground water sources must be kept clean. The solution is not to bury. Instead, corpses are exposed to the vultures at towers of silence.
Exposure to Vultures
Today when you travel along Ardakan, Meybod, Yazd, Kerman, Bam, etc in Iran, there are such exposure places left from the time when this tradition was going on in Iran. The last major city in which people stopped exposing their dead bodies was Yazd. Zoroastrians have a different tradition these days.
Previously, on top of the hills outside villages and towns, there were circular walls within which bodies were laid on the stone-paved floor to be eaten by vultures. Flesh was taken off and bones were left to be disposed in the central pit.
Towers of silence were the places where silence and death prevailed. Bodies perished after souls had abandoned their vessels. Life had transformed from one quality to another and those bodies were not needed anymore. So, physical world went into silence.
Structure of Towers of Silence & Surroundings
These simple structures were mainly built of circular walls on top of the hills. They had only one entrance through which certain people were allowed to enter. They worked at these exposure sites. Down the hills there were a set of buildings for:
Accommodation: The families and friends of the deceased people stayed for three days close to these towers of silence after the bodies were disposed. They burned some light every night till morning to commemorate the beloved ones they had missed.
Fire temple: AS there was a community of Zoroastrians close to the towers of silence for some time and religious ceremonies were performed, a fire temple was needed to be in place.
Water reservoir: The community staying there for a few days naturally needed water to survive. So, such sources of water were built to keep it there.
Watch tower: In some places, there were watch towers to see who is approaching that area from far distances.
Substitution for Towers of Silence
As underground aqueducts are not the main water transferring systems in Iran antmore and wherever they are, the present water tables are very low in the ground, the decomposing bodies cannot contaminate them. However, to respect the earth, insulated graves are constructed in Zoroastrians' cemeteries to bury corpses in.
Based on Zoroastrians' belief, one can refer to his good thought to know what the best solution is for the issue at hand. As they can stick to their beliefs and keep both the earth and water clean, this solution works. So, traditions could change. Towers of silence stopped functioning and special graves were built for treating dead bodies.
Visit Towers of Silence in Iran When Traveling in Iran
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