ABSTRACT
CHAPTER NINE highlights the description of the funeral ceremonies of the Parsees, in two parts. The first part elaborates the rituals and numerous steps related to the disposal of the body that distinguishes Parsees from the last rites of other religious communities. The main ceremony with various rituals and rules is to carry the dead body to dakhamu, i.e., “Tower of Silence” and to place it at a designated spot naked to be consumed by birds, mainly vultures. The second part focuses on ceremonies after the disposal of the body and for the good of the soul which is followed on the third, fourth, tenth, and thirtieth day and on the anniversaries after the death of the deceased person. All the death-related ceremonies are performed according to the injunctions laid down in Zoroastrian scriptures.
