I was thinking about the way my remains would be disposed at the end of my life. I can think of two possible scenarios. The first would be the cultural norm for Parsis (Zoroastrians) in Mumbai or the second would be the way I choose to be disposed, separate from my culture.
The cultural funerary ritual for a Zoroastrian basically entails a day of prayer the day after the person has died (the body will be removed the very next day from contact with other people as to prevent infection and keep all the living sanitary). The body can only be moved during the day time, as the sun must be shining on it. The body is placed into a massive well with all the other bodies by special workers who unfortunately only work this job as they are terribly desperate for work (no one but these workers are allowed to see the well except maybe the head priest). The corpses are striped of their clothes and the clothes are permanently disposed. The naked bodies are left exposed to be the prey of vultures. Vultures help speed up the decomposition of the body. The cultural importance of the vulture however lies in it's feces. It is said that because the vulture defecates in the form of pellets it is easy for the wandering souls to gather all the pellets containing their body. Once all the pellets are gathered the souls can move on to the next life efficiently.
The well itself is surrounded by the funeral grounds which are magnificent gardens that grow in abundance and have beautiful animals like peacock thriving on the land. However the issue with this process is that there are several dead bodies lying in a well in the middle of a city (Mumbai). The ratio of vultures is greatly lacking when compared to the amount of bodies constantly being added to this well. Thus, from time to time the smell of the dead is common around the immediate area. It is also rumored that due to the fact that the most desperate of people are the ones putting the bodies into wells that there have been rumors of necrophilia with some of the bodies of the dead as these people are the only ones allowed into the well.
Thus I have found that I am not particularly fond of this method and would personally rather be cremated. Not to mention that there are many practices that have to be followed for an individual to be buried in this religious setting. For example one cannot have any tattoos, one must be a 'pure blood' Zoroastrian, who has gone through the cultural initiation as a child etc. It is quite the tedious process, simply to appease a romantic notion that may in actuality be quite gross. I'm glad my grandmother cannot use the internet because she would kill me if she ever read that last sentence.
I found a really good YouTube video called Vulture Culture it captures the problems of the ritual practice of Zoroastrian burials in Mumbai city. It has more detail about the ritual and other problems this society faces (and creates for itself). However, I must say I love all Parsis no matter how dogmatic (in fact sometimes the more dogmatic they are the more nostalgic I get).
Side note: There is a picture of me in this book... no not that guy of the front cover!
The well itself is surrounded by the funeral grounds which are magnificent gardens that grow in abundance and have beautiful animals like peacock thriving on the land. However the issue with this process is that there are several dead bodies lying in a well in the middle of a city (Mumbai). The ratio of vultures is greatly lacking when compared to the amount of bodies constantly being added to this well. Thus, from time to time the smell of the dead is common around the immediate area. It is also rumored that due to the fact that the most desperate of people are the ones putting the bodies into wells that there have been rumors of necrophilia with some of the bodies of the dead as these people are the only ones allowed into the well.
Thus I have found that I am not particularly fond of this method and would personally rather be cremated. Not to mention that there are many practices that have to be followed for an individual to be buried in this religious setting. For example one cannot have any tattoos, one must be a 'pure blood' Zoroastrian, who has gone through the cultural initiation as a child etc. It is quite the tedious process, simply to appease a romantic notion that may in actuality be quite gross. I'm glad my grandmother cannot use the internet because she would kill me if she ever read that last sentence.
I found a really good YouTube video called Vulture Culture it captures the problems of the ritual practice of Zoroastrian burials in Mumbai city. It has more detail about the ritual and other problems this society faces (and creates for itself). However, I must say I love all Parsis no matter how dogmatic (in fact sometimes the more dogmatic they are the more nostalgic I get).
Super interesting !
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