In Zoroastrian tradition, the Tower of Silence, or dakhma, is a raised, circular stone structure set apart for the final rites of the dead. The body is placed atop this tower and exposed to the open sky, the sun, and scavenging birds, especially vultures. This form of sky burial is not merely practical; it is a ritualized response to a profound concern with purity and the proper handling of death. The corpse is regarded as ritually impure, associated with a force of corruption that can spread pollution if not carefully contained.

Because of this concern, the elements of earth, fire, and water are treated as sacred realities that must not be defiled by contact with dead matter. Burial would risk contaminating the earth and groundwater, while cremation would compromise the purity of fire and air, and disposal in water would defile that element as well. The Tower of Silence offers a way to avoid such desecration: the body is surrendered to the sun and to birds, so that the flesh is removed without directly involving the holy elements in the process of decay. In this way, the body is returned to nature with as little spiritual and physical pollution as possible.

Within the tower, the process unfolds in stages. Birds consume the flesh, and the sun and weather complete the work of drying and bleaching what remains. The bones are then left to crumble or are gathered into a central pit or ossuary within the structure, often lined with stone or similar materials to minimize any contact with the surrounding earth. This careful choreography of exposure, consumption, and containment reflects a worldview in which even after death, the human body must be handled with reverence for the wider cosmic order.

Seen in this light, the Tower of Silence is not simply a funerary technology but a spiritual statement about the relationship between human beings, death, and the sanctity of creation. The practice embodies a deep reluctance to impose the impurity of death upon the fundamental elements that sustain life. It channels grief and reverence into a ritual that allows the dead to be relinquished without violating what is held most sacred.