(Photos) Ferdous Kaviani's funeral

At the bottom of their custom of disposing of the dead, and at the bottom of all the strict religious ceremonies enjoined therewith, lies the one main principle, viz., that preserving all possible respect for the dead, the body, after its separation from the immortal soul, should be disposed of in a way the least harmful and the least injurious to the living. The object of this paper is to give a brief description of the funeral ceremonies of the Parsis, a description that may interest not only the ordinary seekers after oriental knowledge, but also the students, who strive to find, for most of the present customs, an origin in the commandments of the original Avesta Scriptures. The ceremonies an observances can be divided into two parts: