Vanishing Vultures: Parsi burial tradition hit

A centuries old custom has triggered off a bitter debate within Mumbai's influential Parsi community.

The Parsi community is now divided over how to dispose off their dead.

The bodies are kept in a well for vultures to feed on in a tradition called Dokhmenishin dating back to the 16th century.

However, many Parsis are now alleging that the Towers are becoming unhygenic and succumbing to decay.

The vultures, who are supposed to eat the bodies, are in fact disappearing and as a result, dead bodies are rotting for years.

Recently, photographs that show the inside of the Towers of Silence have surfaced. These photgraphs - though forbidden - are creating ripples in the small community.

The woman who took the pictures, Dhan Baria, a resident of Marzban Parsi colony, says that she is not going to keep quiet about the state of the bodies in the Towers.

You can see a video showing some of the photographs here. The photos are quite graphic.