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

202 HATSTORY OF THE PARSTS. [CHAP. IV.

attended with great ceremony, of which we now propose to give a short account. The former is called the “tana” ceremony, from the fact of the “tana” or thread being used in it. When a plot of ground is selected for the building of a “dokhma,” it is marked out by fixing large iron nails at certain intervals forming a circle, and then thread is taken round them so as to show the space that will be covered by the “dokhma.” The Zoroastrian Scriptures are, as we have already said, opposed to burying the dead, the practice beg considered most injurious to the health of the living. When the Parsis begin to build a “dokhma,” they know that some part of the earth must necessarily come into contact with the bodies of the dead, and therefore, as a precautionary measure, they fix nails im the ground and enclose it by thread, indicating thereby that only that particular portion of the ground should be set apart for the dead. That this is the view taken of the proceeding appears from the “baj” prayers and ceremonies being always performed by a priest on the spot previous to layimg the foundation of the “dokhma.” The first “baj” prayer is in honour of Srosh, the guardian deity presiding over the souls of the dead, especially during the first three days after death. The second is in honour of Ahura Mazda Himself. The third is in honour of Spendarmad, the cuardian deity presiding over ‘“‘earth.” The fourth