What do Parsis do when someone dies?

Unlike in other religions where a deceased person’s body is cremated or buried, when a Parsi dies, his or her body is left in the ‘Tower of Silence’ for vultures.

What happens at a Zoroastrian funeral?

Contaminating the elements (Earth, Air, Fire and Water) with decaying matter such as a corpse is considered sacrilege. Instead of burying the corpse, Zoroastrians traditionally laid it out on a purpose built tower (dokhma or ‘Tower of Silence’) to be exposed to the sun and eaten by birds of prey such as vultures.

What is Parsi funeral called?

Traditional Zoroastrian funerals, which are called Dokhmenashini – a system of sky burials that relies on the sun and carrion birds to dispose of bodies – is in peril because of the near-extinction of India’s vulture species.

Why is a four eyed dog with a spot above each eye used in Zoroastrian funeral ritual?

Why is a “four-eyed” dog with a spot above each eye used in a Zoroastrian funeral ritual? ​it stresses that a Zoroastrian must marry another Zoroastrian. Which of the following best describes a tower of silence? ​It is a stone funeral structure for the Zoroastrian dead.

What happened to Zoroastrianism in India?

Zoroastrianism in India. The initial migration following the Muslim conquest of Persia has been canonized as a religious persecution by invading Muslims. Zoroastrianism meanwhile suffered a decline in Iran after the conquests. Subsequent migrations also took place after the attempts by Safavids to convert their subjects to Shiism.

Are Zoroastrians Parsis or Iranis?

The Zoroastrian groups are regarded as either Parsi or Irani depending on the time of migration to India. By 632 A.D., Yazdgird III came to power in Persia but the Arab/Muslim army had already begun invading Persia.

Why do Zoroastrians worship in ‘fire temples’?

They worship in ‘fire temples’, believing fire to be a symbol of god’s purity. Known as Parsis, Zoroastrians first arrived in India more than 1,000 years ago after fleeing persecution in Persia.

What do Zoroastrians do with dead bodies?

Contaminating the elements (Earth, Air, Fire and Water) with decaying matter such as a corpse is considered sacrilege. Instead of burying the corpse, Zoroastrians traditionally laid it out on a purpose built tower ( dokhma or ‘Tower of Silence’) to be exposed to the sun and eaten by birds of prey such as vultures.