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29-469: Grant Road may refer to: Grant Road (South Mumbai, India) Grant Road (Los Alamos, New Mexico) Grant Road Historic District Grant Road railway station Grant Road metro station Grant Road Reserve Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Grant Road . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

58-538: A body in minutes, and no other method has proved fully effective. The right to use the Towers of Silence is a much-debated issue among the Parsi community. The facilities are usually managed by the anjumans, the predominantly conservative local Zoroastrian associations. These usually having five priests on a nine-member board. In accordance with Indian statutes, these associations have domestic authority over trust properties and have

87-540: A much later invention and are first documented in the early 9th century CE. The funerary ritual customs surrounding that practice appear to date to the Sassanid era (3rd–7th CE). They are known in detail from the supplement to the Shayest ne Shayest , the two Rivayat collections, and the two Saddar s. One of the earliest literary descriptions of such a building appears in the late 9th-century Epistles of Manushchihr , where

116-507: Is famous for its electronic items purchase at Lamington Road. Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre is one of the most important and oldest hospitals in the city of Mumbai. It is also an access point to the Tower of Silence at Kemps Corner which is the only remaining one after the closure of the dakhma at Andheri 's Salsette Parsi Colony on the Salsette Island and even

145-623: Is first documented in the early 9th century CE. In Herodotus' account (in Histories i.140), the Zoroastrian funerary rites are said to have been "secret"; however they were first performed after the body had been dragged around by a bird or dog. The corpse was then embalmed with wax and laid in a trench. Writing on the culture of the Persians , Herodotus reports on the Persian burial customs performed by

174-465: Is interred in a tomb at Balkh (in present-day Afghanistan ). The Byzantine historian Agathias has described the Zoroastrian burial of the Sasanian general Mihr-Mihroe : "the attendants of Mermeroes took up his body and removed it to a place outside the city and laid it there as it was, alone and uncovered according to their traditional custom, as refuse for dogs and horrible carrion". Towers are

203-516: Is the retail electronic market of Bombay along Lamington Road . Grant Road station also connects famous Radha Gopinath Temple [ISKCON] at Chowpatty. Novelty cinema is at the junction of Grant Road with Lamington Road. Famous places accessible to the West are Gowalia Tank (also known as August Kranti Maidan), Mani Bhavan at Gamdevi, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Bhavan's College, Wilson College , Girgaum Chowpatty and Walkeshwar . Famous places accessible from

232-565: Is useful for people who want to reach the Royal Opera House , Nana Chowk , Lamington Road , and the Roxy Theatre. [1] Tower of Silence Zoroastrian ritual exposure of the dead is first attested in the mid-5th century BCE Histories of Herodotus , an Ancient Greek historian who observed the custom amongst Iranian expatriates in Asia Minor ; however, the use of towers

261-579: The Governor of Bombay between 1835 and 1839, formally Maulana Shaukatali Road ) is a locality in South Mumbai . Towards the west of the Grant Road station is Nana Chowk (named after Jagannath Shankarseth ) and residential localities of Gamdevi, Raghav Wadi, Shastri Hall, Talmaki Wadi, Navi (New) Chikhal Wadi, Juni (Old) Chikhal Wadi, Bhaji Gully (the local vegetable market). To the east of Grant Road station

290-527: The Persian Bakery & Stores at Balaram Street. The Sheetal Store on Malauna Shaukatali Road is one of the oldest surviving saree stores in this area. Grant Road railway station serves this area. Grant Road is the fourth station on the Western local line preceded by Churchgate , Marine Lines , Charni Road , and followed by a main junction, Mumbai Central . Most slow trains halt at this station, which

319-551: The Wilson College . It is among the access points towards the residential areas of Gamdevi and Walkeshwar , Gowalia Tank Grant Road had a number of theatres until 2004, namely the Novelty Cinema (now apartments), Super Cinema, Apsara, Jamuna, Minerva, Royal Talkies, New Roshan Talkies, Nishat Cinema, Naaz Cinema, Imperial Cinema, Krishna Cinema, Alfred Theatre and Shalimar Cinema. The Zoroastrian Shoppe near Cama Baug and

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348-472: The magi , again, kept secret, according to his account. However, he writes that he knows they expose the body of male dead to dogs and birds of prey, then they cover the corpse in wax, and then it is buried. The Achaemenid custom for the dead is recorded in the regions of Bactria , Sogdia , and Hyrcania , but not in Western Iran. The discovery of ossuaries in both Eastern and Western Iran dating to

377-556: The 1990s, until banned for cattle by the Government of India in 2006. The few surviving birds are often unable to fully consume the bodies. In 2001, Parsi communities in India were evaluating captive breeding of vultures and the use of "solar concentrators" (which are essentially large mirrors) to accelerate decomposition. Some have been forced to resort to burial, as the solar collectors work only in clear weather. Vultures used to dispose of

406-567: The 5th and 4th centuries BCE indicate that bones were sometimes isolated, but separation occurring through ritual exposure cannot be assumed: burial mounds, where the bodies were wrapped in wax, have also been discovered. The tombs of the Achaemenid emperors at Naqsh-e Rustam and Pasargadae likewise suggest non-exposure, at least until the bones could be collected. According to legend (incorporated by Ferdowsi into his Shahnameh ; lit.   ' The Book of Kings ' ), Zoroaster himself

435-525: The Appo Menes and Company are one of the oldest surviving Zoroastrian shops in the city which caters to the traditional weaving of Sudreh Kasti and other religious items to the Zoroastrian Community of Bombay City. The Grant Road Skywalk is the latest and the most iconic addition to the skywalks of Mumbai due to its round architecture. Grant Road is also for its Irani Cafes like the B'Merwan and

464-549: The East are Gol Deol off Duncan Road, Chor Bazaar on Mutton Street, Hurkisondas Hospital, Prathana Samaj, Badr Baug. Grant Road along with Tardeo and Mumbai Central has been a neighbourhood of Mumbai City dominated by the Hindus , Jains , Muslims and the Parsi & Irani Zoroastrians . It is considered as the place of ancestral roots of the originating Zoroastrians of the city mainly being

493-465: The Parsi community to explore alternatives to standard dakhmas. In the Iranian Zoroastrian tradition, the towers were built atop hills or low mountains in locations distant from population centres. In the early 20th century, Iranian Zoroastrians gradually discontinued their use and began to favour burial or cremation . The decision to change the system was accelerated by three considerations:

522-708: The areas of Balaram Street and Sleater Road. It has 4 Fire temples and The Cama Baug is an important place for the Wedding Ceremonies and other functions of the Parsis of Mumbai. The Gilder Tank is one of the oldest tanks in the city originating the roots of Yazdani, Cooper and the Gilder Families of Mumbai. B'Merwan Cake Shop and Bakery is one of the oldest bakeries in the City of Mumbai which has catered to nearly all classes of people from students and mill workers Grant Road

551-438: The bones have been bleached by the sun and wind, which can take as long as a year, they are collected in an ossuary pit at the centre of the tower, where—assisted by lime —they gradually disintegrate, and the remaining material, along with rainwater run-off, seeps through multiple coal and sand filters before being eventually washed out to sea. The precipitous decline in the vulture population in India due to poisoning has led

580-497: The corpse demon ( daeva ), is believed to rush into the body and contaminate everything it comes into contact with. For this reason, the Vīdēvdād (an ecclesiastical code whose title means, 'given against the demons') has rules for disposing of the dead as safely as possible. Moreover, the Vīdēvdād requires that graves, and raised tombs as well, must be destroyed. To preclude

609-453: The dead is also considered to be an individual's final act of charity, providing the birds with what would otherwise be destroyed. In the late 20th century and early 21st century the vulture population on the Indian subcontinent declined (see Indian vulture crisis ) by over 97% as of 2008, primarily due to diclofenac poisoning of the birds following the introduction of that drug for livestock in

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638-502: The earth. In Kerman, older orthodox Zoroastrians continued to maintain a tower for a few years after a cemetery was built. Yazdi Zoroastrians continued using the Tower of Silence until the city asked them to close it in 1974. Following the rapid expansion of the Indian cities, the squat buildings are today in or near population centres, but separated from the metropolitan bustle by gardens or forests. In Parsi Zoroastrian tradition, exposure of

667-463: The first problem arose with the establishment of the Dar ul-Funun medical school. Since Islam considers dissection of corpses as an unnecessary form of mutilation, thus forbidding it, there were no corpses for study available through official channels. The towers were repeatedly broken into, much to the dismay of the Zoroastrian community. Secondly, while the towers had been built away from population centres,

696-513: The growth of the towns led to the towers now being within city limits. Finally, many of the Zoroastrians found the system outdated. Following long negotiations between the anjuman societies of Kerman , and Tehran , the latter gained a majority and established a cemetery some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Tehran at Ghassr-e Firouzeh (Firouzeh's Palace). The graves were lined with rocks and plastered with cement to prevent direct contact with

725-430: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grant_Road&oldid=1231458473 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Grant Road (South Mumbai, India) Grant Road (named after Sir Robert Grant ,

754-504: The perimeter being slightly higher than the centre. The roof is divided into three concentric rings: the bodies of men are arranged around the outer ring, women in the second ring, and children in the innermost ring. The ritual precinct may be entered only by a special class of pallbearers , called nusessalars , from the Avestan : nasa a salar , consisting of the word elements, -salar ('caretaker') and nasa- ('pollutants'). Once

783-579: The pollution of the sacred elements: earth ( zām ), water ( āpas ), and fire ( ātar ), the bodies of the dead are placed at the top of towers and there exposed to the sun and to scavenging birds and necrophagous animals such as wild dogs. Thus, as an early-20th-century Secretary of the Mumbai Parsi community explained: " putrefaction with all its concomitant evils... is most effectually prevented." Modern-day towers, which are fairly uniform in their construction, have an almost flat roof, with

812-408: The right to grant or restrict entry and use, with the result that the associations frequently prohibit the use by the offspring of a "mixed marriage", that is, where one parent is a Parsi and the other is not. The towers remain in use as sacred locations for the Parsi community, though non-members may not enter them. In Mumbai visitors are shown a model of a tower. Organized tours can be taken to

841-583: The technical term is astodan , 'ossuary'. Another term that appears in the 9th- to 10th-century texts of Zoroastrian tradition (the so-called " Pahlavi books ") is dakhmag ; in its earliest usage, it referred to any place for the dead. The doctrinal rationale for exposure is to avoid contact with earth, water, or fire, all three of which are considered sacred in the Zoroastrian religion. Zoroastrian tradition considers human cadavers and animal corpses (in addition to cut hair and nail parings) to be nasu , i.e. unclean, polluting. Specifically, Nasu

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