A Comparative Look at the Zoroastrians Dakhmas in Iran and India and the Ritual and Religious Aspects of Making the Dakhma in the Parsees Tradition

The Zoroastrians has the burial custom of offering their dead to the dakhme. The early dakhmes were extremely simple buildings on the wall of the mountains. In the Islamic era, the handmade dakhmes of clay and stone were called borj (tower). In India, the immigrant Zoroastrians, called Parsis, preserved their burial custom. Over time, the Parsis made newer dakhmes in accordance with the humidity of India. The custom of burial in dakhme is called Tana among Parsis. The ceremony included principles such as laying the foundation of dakhme, sanctifying it, and driving 301 nails into the ground and rolling a cotton rope around them. The description of these ceremonies is recorded in texts such as Revayat-e Farsi and Wijarkard-e dini. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, the dakhme ritual has been abolished in Iran as a result of the religious intellectual movement. In India it became a challenge between the radical and reformist religious Parsis. In this research, various types of Zoroastrian dakhmes are studied. Also, the evolution of dakhme building is evaluated, regarding its ritual and religious aspects, and the position of Zoroastrian dakhmes in the present time is regarded as well.