(Photos) Ferdous Kaviani's funeral

Because life is only a temporary part of the Zoroastrian spiritual experience, death is not something to mourn. This is why many Zoroastrian funeral elements seem strange to outsiders, since they don’t reflect the grief we think of in other religions. In this belief system, funerals are quiet, quick affairs. 

Traditionally, corpses were left exposed in structures known as Towers of Silence. Because the human body was considered unhealthy and impure without a spirit, it was kept away from the clean earth in a high tower away from the community. The bodies were left for animals and birds, and the bones were interred. Today, Towers of Silence are rare, and many Zoroastrians have adapted to more modern funeral practices.