Forlong - Rivers of Life

Fire Worship.
remnant of offerings to the fire-god which most Parsis and Hindoos once openly gave.
The Parsis repeat this sandal-wood offering on all joyful or sad occasions in their families.
In cities, or where Parsis are numerous, besides the home altar of Fire, special Fire
temples (also called Atash-bairam, coupled with the name of the person who built such)
are erected, and two or more priests maintained to look after the fire and prayer services.
If special prayers are required—the suppliant fees the priest, or Naubet. The com-
munity subscribe a fixed sum for each priest, who lives in the temple, and to whom
fees are given for all special ceremonies, as births, deaths, &c.
When a Parsi dies, his relatives immediately place a light at the head of the
corpse, which they remove to the ground-floor of the house. Priests are summoned,
who first stand at the door of the house, offering prayers. Some bring in a dog, and lift
it up once, twice, or even three. times, to look upon the corpse, and then immediately
remove it. Can this animal, which is thought to scare away or absorb all evil spirits
or passions, have any connection with Cerberus, he of the tombs? The body is, if possible,
borne to “the Towers of Silence” (as the enclosed place of the dead is called) on
an iron bier, preceded by sacred fire in a brazen vessel, carefully prepared in the house,
and the face of the dead is reverently uncovered outside the gate of the enclosure, so
that all the mourners may take one last glance, after which all retire to a neighbouring
house of prayer, or temporary shed erected for this purpose. The corpse-bearers then
carry their burden inside the tower, where it is left to be destroyed by birds and the
elements.
The Hindoo cremation ceremony has many features in common with the above,
and is well described in the following account of the burning of the Hon. Nārayen
Waso-deo, late a member of the Legislative Council of Bombay. 1
The body was in this case also at once removed to the ground-floor of the house,
where all the mourners met to weep. It was then placed on a bamboo litter, covered
with a rich shawl, and raised on the shoulders of the nearest male relatives, when the
procession set out, preceded by “the sacred fire which had been kindled with due
ceremonies at the house, and which was carried in front in a brazen vessel by the
deceased’s son,” he whose special duty it is to continue the sacred flame of the family
hearth. “When the procession reached Sonapore, the bier was placed on the ground,
while the pyre was being constructed. Men with short crowbars made six holes in
the earth, and in each of these was placed a rough piece of timber about four or five
feet high. The posts, ranged two and two, were about a yard distant from each other.
Three logs about 6 feet long each were placed on pieces of wood between each pair of
uprights, so as to allow a free draught under the whole. A number of smaller logs
were placed on these large ones, and were covered with sandal-wood, which made a sort
of bed for the reeeption of the body. While this was being done, a number of torches
of sandal-wood were being carefull ignited by the deceased’s son at the sacred fire
1 “Times of India,” Bombay, 4th Aug. 1874.
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