Tower of Silence; Last Destination of Zoroastrians
Tower of Silence; Last Destination of Zoroastrians
Tower of Silence; Last Destination of Zoroastrians
Zoroastrians` tower of silence is in the shape of circle and it is the last destination of them. What does this clause mean?
Keep reading so that myDorna will tell you what that sentence mean.
About Zoroastrians’ Tower of Silence
Tower of silence or Dakhmeh, in Persian, is one of the relics of Zoroastrian religion. This building is placed in Safaeieh region on a hill named Dakhmeh. Although different towers of silence of Zoroastrians are in different cities like Tehran, Kerman, Isfahan and etc., this one in Yazd attracts more tourists, because this city was the religious capital of Zoroastrians.
In the past, Zoroastrians used to put corpses in their towers of silence so that the dead bodies would be the food of birds and animals. They didn’t bury the corpses because they believed that the corpse of human is unclean. This way of funerals was continuous until Pahlavi dynasty and was forbidden after that.
Name of Two Towers of Silence in Yazd
1. Maneckji Limji Hataria
2. Golestan
First one is in the left side with width of 15 meters. Maneckji was an Indian Zoroastrian who came to Iran during Qajar era for supporting Zoroastrians` rights. He built schools in Iran and ruled tuition of students. He died in the year of 1980 in Tehran and was put in his tower of silence.
Second one is Golestan and was built because crossing and transferring corpses on the roads on hill with gentle slope was difficult. It is situated with 150 meters’ distance on western part of Maneckji catacomb and with width of 25 meters.
Difference Between Tower of silence and Catacomb
In catacombs, corpses are buried, but in towers of silence, corpses were abandoned to be a food for different animals and birds.
History of Tower of Silence
In ancient times, Aryans burnt corpses and there was no tower of silence, but after birth of Zoroaster Prophet, this way of burying became dominant so that food for animals and birds got increased.
Architecture of Tower of Silence
Materials used for building Tower of Silence were clay, plaster and stones. These kind of places were built outside a city on hills.
Parts of Tower of Silence
1. Road: the way for getting there
2. Door or entrance
3. Inscription: it is on the top of the tower to give information about place and corpses.
4. Internal part: it is divided into 3 parts; place for women, men and children.
5. A hole on the top of the tower.
How to Get There?
For getting there, you can use any vehicles. You can use buses of these lines:
1. Terminal of Mehrab’s Martyrs-Fajr Farhangian
2. Terminal of Mehrab’s Martyrs-Mullasadra
Address: Iran, Yazd City, 15 Kilometers Southeast of Yazd, Safaeieh region, Dakhmeh hill
