History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

cHaP.1v.] DIMENSIONS OF A DOKHMA. 201

ing together after death im one common level of equality. Four drains are constructed leading from the body of the pit. They commence from the surrounding wall of the ““bhandar” and pass beyond the outside of the tower down into four wells sunk in the ground at equal distances. 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 toa height of five or seven feet. These “dokhmas” or towers of silence are built upon one plan, but their size may and does vary. |

The laying of the foundation-stone of a new

‘‘dokhma,” as well as its final consecration, is

1 Mr. Nasarvanji Chandabhai gives the several dimensions of Mr. Nasarvanji Ratanji Tata’s “dokhma” at Navsari as follows :—The interior diameter of the tower, as limited by the parapet, is 62 feet ; the outermost diameter is 70 feet ; the outer diameter of the plinth at the surface of the ground, 66°8 ; the frustrum or the plinth has a batter of 1 foot in 8 feet; the diameter of the ‘‘bhandar” is 20 feet 6 inches; the depth of the “bhandar” at its centre 8 feet ; the thickness of the parapet 1 foot; its height above plinth 8 feet ; height of plinth above the surface of ground 8 feet ; minimum height of the tower above ground 16 feet; and the maximum 22 feet. The area of the interior of the tower is 3,019 square feet. The diameter of each well is 6 feet; the depth of ditto 35 feet. The aggregate capacity of the four wells is 21,186 gallons; the gathering area of the wells is 3,117 square feet; the quantity of rain-water from a continued fall of 12 inches, say in one day, would be 3,117 cubic feet, or 19,419 gallons.