MUMBAI, India -- A conflict brewing in a Zoroastrian community in Mumbai about how to dispose of the dead is finding a worthy mediator in science and technology.
Zoroastrians, also called Parsis, have a unique way of disposing of their dead that involves leaving corpses exposed to the elements in a deep well called a Dokhma, which is part of a larger structure called a Tower of Silence. The body is left in the sanctified well, where vultures swoop down and consume the remains.
But a decline in the vulture population in recent years has meant that bodies normally consumed in a day or so are now lying around for days on end. The smell emanating from the bodies has a nearby upscale residential area concerned, and has created tension between the orthodoxy and a group of Parsis that want to break with the longstanding burial tradition.
The orthodoxy, for its part, has turned to science to control the situation. Giant solar reflectors have been tested on some corpses with good results by an administrative body called Bombay Parsi Panchayat. And Mehernosh Behramkamdin, a Parsi and U.S. educated chemical engineer, has put to use an ozone-generating machine that is helping to control the odor.
The high priests of the community had good reason to take swift action. A group of Parsis, alarmed by the putrid state of the bodies, formed an organization called Disposal of the Dead with Dignity Action Group -- an organization the orthodoxy sees as a threat to the religion. The group demanded that the clergy admit the traditional disposal method had failed and allow Parsis to dispose of the dead in whatever way they choose ... without being called rebels.
Instead of change a tradition central to the religion, the priests offered up these scientific solutions, and they seem to be appeasing the members of the DDDAG. Jamsheed Kanga, former municipal commissioner of Mumbai and a member of the DDDAG group, said of the solar reflectors, "We are happy with this move. The solar reflectors will concentrate the sun’s rays on the bodies and hasten the process of decomposition. The trials have been satisfactory. Within two days the bodies on which the reflectors were tried were successfully disposed of. Lime and phosphorous further help in the disintegration of the bones."
And the ozone-generating machine has already been installed in one of the five available Dokhmas to destroy odors. The machine generates a pure oxygen stream of up to 400 liters an hour containing 20 liters of pure ozone with a maximum output of 40 grams of ozone per hour. "Most of the ozone gets used up in destroying smell and other microorganisms," said Behramkamdin.
The ozone-generating machine is housed in an air-conditioned 12-by-12 foot room, which is 40 meters away from the open-to-sky enclosure whose atmosphere has to be purified. The air in the Dokhma is sucked out by a blower through openings in a suitable duct made of thin stainless steel sheet metal. The duct is an octagonal opening within the wall, at a height of two meters above ground.
There is also a meter capable of detecting ozone concentrations used to ensure low ozone release in the air.
The ozone project costs just $30,000 and has come as a big boost to an exasperated clergy that is under a lot of pressure to keep the traditions going for a community that numbers 55,000 in Mumbai and only 130,00 worldwide.
Firoze Kotwal, one of the eight high priests of the Parsi community said, "rituals are important to keep the religion alive."
