Parsi cremation mumbai

In Augusta group of Parsi-Zoroastrians inaugurated a prayer hall at the Worli municipal crematorium for families of those who chose not to be interred at the Tower of Silence on Malabar Hill, parsi cremation mumbai.

How much longer can this 3,year-old tradition survive? The prophet Zarathushtra insisted on a reverence for all elements. None of them is to be defiled. A corpse is considered impure not just physically on account of infection and decay, but also because it is swiftly colonised by evil spirits. Therefore, cremation and burial on land or sea are unacceptable.

Parsi cremation mumbai

Support Scroll. Seven firms that failed drug quality test gave money to political parties through electoral bonds. The prayer hall was inaugurated in August , had its first funeral in September , and since then has already been the venue of funerals for more than 50 Parsis in six months. The spacious 3,sq-ft prayer hall is the product of a vociferous debate between the liberal and conservative factions of the community about how to dispose of the dead with dignity. When Parsis migrated from Iran to western India more than 1, years ago, they built several Towers of Silence, or dakhmas , in keeping with the ancient Zoroastrian custom of disposing the dead by exposing them to scavenger birds like vultures. Bodies are placed in ridges at the top of the stone towers and allowed to be eaten by vultures as a means of giving back to nature. Mumbai has four Towers of Silence, built in a forested acre plot called Doongerwadi in the middle of the posh Malabar Hill neighbourhood. Vultures were dying not just because of urbanisation but also because the drug Diclofenac, introduced in the s to treat livestock for inflammations and fevers, proved to be toxic for the birds feeding on cattle carcasses. By , vultures were nearly extinct. This posed an unexpected dilemma for the small Parsi community, as uneaten bodies atop the Towers of Silence were left to rot for months.

And plunged the towers of silence — and an aging community — into seismic controversy.

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Many Parsi Irani Zoroastrian residents of Mumbai, concerned that the remains of their loved ones were not being speedily disposed but were putrefying, began clamouring for alternate systems of disposal — burial or cremation. The first seeds for a Prayer Hall where Parsi-Irani Zoroastrians could opt for alternate modes of disposal and be assured of obsequies being performed were planted many years earlier in the nineteen eighties, when Jamsheed Kanga, then Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai was approached by the late J. Tata enquiring which of the crematoriums at Mumbai would be appropriate for the obsequies and funeral of his brother D. Tata who had passed away, as many dignitaries were expected to attend. At that time, some of the crematoriums were closed as they were being upgraded, whilst others were very shabby.

Parsi cremation mumbai

Bodies that were interred in the Dakhmas, or Tower of Silence, in a system called Dokhmenashini, to be eaten by carrion birds, were not being disposed off fast enough, creating unhygienic conditions. Data on funerals at the Prayer Hall show that the number of cremations has grown from 33 in , the year when the Prayer Hall was set up to 90 in and 66 in Data is available for the subsequent years.

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Manage Subscription. The question may arise. A demand to construct a crematorium in a corner of the acre wooded Tower of Silence was not accepted by the Bombay Parsi Punchayet BPP , the trust that manages the cemetery. Photo: Prayerhalltrust. A group of community members, with the help of philanthropists and the municipal corporation, built a prayer hall at the Worli municipal crematorium. Toggle navigation. Over the past decade, the conditions at Doongerwadi pushed several progressive Parsis to turn to cremation as a more respectful method of disposing the dead. Avind Kejriwal. With two new halls now having been constructed and the existing small hall attached to the crematorium, there will be adequate place for obsequies of Parsi-Irani Zoroastrians to be performed at all times. Donald Trump. In places that do not have Dakhmas, burials and cremations are the norm.

In this serene setting, the Parsi Zoroastrians of Mumbai, India, continue to practice a funerary tradition that remains almost entirely unchanged after thousands of years.

Donald Trump. None of them is to be defiled. My Reads. Follow us. A funeral ceremony at the Worli crematorium prayer hall. The magazine, Parsiana, compiles and reports data on deaths, marriages and births in the community. A corpse is considered impure not just physically on account of infection and decay, but also because it is swiftly colonised by evil spirits. Without their generous donation it would not have been possible to complete the construction of the facility within 16 months. For more than a decade, during my tenure as a Trustee of BPP November to October we debated the need for allowing funerary prayers to be performed at Doongerwadi and thereafter permit family members to dispose of the corpse through an alternate system of disposal — cremation or burial. Rahul Gandhi.