All young Parsis in India must be initiated when
they are seven. They receive
a shirt (Sadra) and a girdle (Kusti) which they have to wear their whole life.
There are three types of purification -Padyab (ablution), Nahn (bath) and
Bareshnum. Penance entails reciting the patet and a firm resolve not to sin
again. The chief ceremony is the Yasna, a sacrifice of haoma (sacred liquor) and
is celebrated before the sacred fire. The burial rites begin with bringing a dog
to the corpse. This is repeated five times a day. Then the body is moved to the
Tower of Silence. The tower is built in three concentric circles, one each for
men, women and children. Here the body is left exposed for the vultures to feed emphasizing
the fact that even in death they do some good. The bones are swept off into the
central well later.
All young Parsis in India must be initiated when
they are seven. They receive
a shirt (Sadra) and a girdle (Kusti) which they have to wear their whole life.
There are three types of purification -Padyab (ablution), Nahn (bath) and
Bareshnum. Penance entails reciting the patet and a firm resolve not to sin
again. The chief ceremony is the Yasna, a sacrifice of haoma (sacred liquor) and
is celebrated before the sacred fire. The
burial rites begin with bringing a dog
to the corpse. This is repeated five times a day. Then the body is moved to the
Tower of Silence. The tower is built in three concentric circles, one each for
men, women and children. Here the body is left exposed for the vultures to feed emphasizing
the fact that even in death they do some good. The bones are swept off into the
central well later.
