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CONSECRATION OF TOWERS.
233 the bodies of the dead, diminishing towards the interior, the exterior row being used for men, the middle for women, and the inner for children. Each receptacle is separated from the others by ridges about an inch high : and channels are cut for the purpose of conveying all liquids into a deep hollow, or well, in the centre of the tower. “When the corpse has been completely stripped of its flesh by the vultures, which is generally accomplished within one hour at the outside, and when the bones of the denuded skeleton are perfectly dried up by the powerful heat of a tropical sun, they are thrown into this pit, where they crumble into dust." There are also four drains leading from the pit to the exterior, opening into four wells. “At the mouth of each drain charcoal and sandstones are placed for purifying the fluid before it enters the ground, thus observing one of the tenets of the Zoroastrian religion, that " the mother earth shall not be defiled.” The wells have a permeable bottom, which is covered with sand to a height of five or seven feet.
The foundation-laying and the consecration of a new tower is an occasion of great ceremony. After the ground has been marked out and limited with a thread Foundation carried round a large number of nails arranged and con: in a circle, prayers are offered to Sraosha, the towers. guardian deity of the souls of the dead, to Ormuzd, and to Spenta Armati, the guardian deity of earth, to departed souls, and to the seven Amesha-Spentas. These prayers, acknowledging that it is wrong to contaminate the earth with the bodies of the dead, pray that the enclosed space, and no more, may be occupied for depositing the bodies of departed souls. At the consecration of a dokhma, a trench is dug all round it, and then in the centre of the tower two priests perform the Yasna and Vendidad prayers and ceremonies in honour of Sraosha for three consecutive mornings and nights. On the fourth morning there is a prayer in honour of Ormuzd; and afterwards there are similar prayers to those at the foundation. Other services outside the tower follow, during and after which thousands of Parsees visit the
