Zoroastrian Tower of Silence

Yazd Tower of Silence 

The Tower of Silence, also known as a dakhma is a circular raised structure built by Zoroastrians for excarnation – that is, for dead bodies to be exposed to carrion birds, usually vultures. Fire, wind, earth and water are four sacred elements and should be kept clean from any contagious or unclean material. According to the religion’s beliefs, a body becomes impure at death, when evil spirits or “Nasu” arrive to attack the flesh and soul of the deceased. By contaminating the corpse, Nasu also threaten the living.

For this reason, instead of burying the corpse directly into the earth or burning it, which would also dishonor the fire like the earth, they would apply another method as the funeral process of their loved ones’ dead bodies. By putting the corpse over exposure of the sun and the air, Zoroastrians would use these sacred elements for purifying the dead body. Meanwhile, prey birds, would clean the bones of the corpse. This way, the impure body would vanish and the remaining bones would be moved into a pit which is located in the center of the structure.

There are more than 10 towers of silence in Yazd province and today we are going to talk about two of them which are more famous located in the southern part of the city. One of them is called ‘Golestan’ which means rose garden and the other is called Manokchi. Golestan was built in 1930’s and the other one was built by the sponsorship from an Indian-Parsi called Manokchi in 1854.  

In the past they used to build towers of silence far from the cities in the remote areas, so that the cities would be protected from any sort of pollution, However, in 1970’s, the urbanization had marched upon these once-desolate ‘sky burial sites’. So, this tradition became illegal in Iran and the government made the Zoroastrians community to adjust to other methods as the funeral process. As a result, many of them have applied burying the corpse beneath concrete as a way to avoid all contaminants. Up until now, this tradition has been exercised in some cities with some large Zoroastrian population such as Mumbai in India and the towers are still in use and it is prohibited to visit them. However, the towers in Yazd are the only ones that the tourists can visit.

Basically, these towers were used as a resting place. Now let’s delve into the steps of the Zoroastrians’ funeral. These two towers are located at 15 KM far from the old town of Yazd. In the old days, the family and the relatives of the deceased used to wash and clean the corpse and they wrap it in a white shroud in the house and then they had to pass through the dry desert by the use of animals on camels, horses or the mules. One of the essentials for this long route was water. More than three thousand years ago, some Persian desert-dwellers had already made a solution to survive in such dry lands. They used to go up to the mountain foot where there was more rainfall, then they used to make a chain of shafts and would connect them with tunnels. By the use of this underground water system which is called Qanat they could bring fresh water to the heart of the desert.

On the foot of the towers, there are some buildings which are called “Khile”. The word Khile literary means ‘many’. Each building belonged to a village or a Zoroastrian neighborhood in the city of Yazd and each building was assigned the name of the corresponding neighborhood. The family and the relatives of the deceased, used to perform the rituals and read from the “Avesta” which is the holy book, inside these buildings during the three-day period.

According to Zoroastrian beliefs, when a person dies, his or her sprit leaves the body, but remains in its vicinity for three days and nights, suffering from temporary anxiety and distress caused by the sudden separation. For this reason, the family of the deceased, would remain in the “Khile” and pray for the soul of their lost one for three days, and during the nights, they lit fire to brighten the area to calm the spirits. They also believe that on the morning of the fourth day, the soul of the deceased leaves this world towards the next world.

By bringing a dog into the dead body’s presence they would attempt to hold back the demons or “Nasu”. This process is known as “Sagdid” which means the glance of the dog (Sag in Persian means dog and –did’ means to see) and forms an essential part of Zoroastrian funeral ceremonies. Later, they delivered the corpse to “Nesasalars” or the guardians of the dead. The two Nesasalars used to put the corpses on their shoulders and carry them to the top of the tower along the steep path. These people were not allowed to get the help from the animals to carry the dead bodies and they were the only people who were allowed to enter to the top of the tower.

The towers are surrounded by a circular wall made by adobe and stones, Therefore, it stops the animals like hyenas and foxes from getting inside the tower, carrying the pieces and scattering the pollution in the area.

Amoo Shahriar or “uncle Shahriar” a friendly respected man was one of the last guardians of towers of silence in Yazd who passed away a few years ago. He used to tell us the stories on how he and his colleague used to carry and put the dead bodies on the top of the tower. Once, he said, one of the hardest things in the process was entering to the top of the tower. Because there were hundreds of wild birds and vultures sitting on the edge of the wall waiting for the corpses to arrive and sometimes they might attack the guardians as well. The guardians used a special arrangement to place the dead bodies on the ground. The roof is divided into three concentric rings. The bodies of men were arranged around the outer ring, sitting and leaning against the wall and the guardians would fix them using a piece of wood on their back. The women in the second circle laying on the ground and the bodies of children were arranged around the innermost ring.

Once the bones have been bleached by the sun and the wind, they are collected in the “Astodan” or ossuary pit located at the center of the tower. Later, the guardians poured chemical liquids such as lime or Nitric acid to disintegrate the remainings.

There is a number of popular tales about the tower of silence. One of which is that if the vulture eats the right eye, the deceased will be sent to the heaven and if it went for the left eye, the person will be sent to hell! However, these tales are not based on religion.