Parsi tradition dying out for lack of vultures

Randeep Ramesh in New Delhi
Thursday October 6, 2005

It is one the most poignant images in India. Muslin-wrapped mourners carry the dead up a leafy hill to a temple, conducting an ancient ceremony in modern Mumbai. They reach the Towers of Silence and the bodies are laid on slabs of marble to be devoured by vultures and bleached by the searing heat of the sun. For Zoroastrianism, one of the oldest mass religions in the world, bodies left in this manner will see their soul join the spiritual world.

The trouble is the vultures of Mumbai are dying out. Their numbers have been decimated by cattle carcasses contaminated with an anti-inflammatory drug widely used in south Asia.
To dispose of the dead a group of Parsis, the ethnic group that practises Zoroastrianism, are using solar panels and lenses like a magnifying glass to penetrate bodies and aid decomposition. Burial, burning or disposal at sea are not permitted as they would see bodies contaminating the sacred elements of earth, fire and water.

Continues at <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1585694,00.html" target="new"> The Guardian</a>