dakhma (dokhma) /DOK-ma/. noun. A raised circular structure, or tower, upon which Zoroastrians place the bodies of their dead to be consumed by vultures. AKA a “Tower of Silence.” From Persian dakhmak (funeral place).
“Alexander promptly ordered the dakhmas, or Towers of Silence, to be closed.” (H.G. Rawlinson)
“When Joseph dies, his body will be placed in the dokhma, and the three-day ceremonies too will be permitted. Whether he’s had a navjote or not…” (Cyrus Mistry)
“In a dream I saw him. Like Opi’s mother he had no lips, and also like her, he was on the dakhma.” (Rebecca Kanner)
“The first corpse brought to a new tower—‘dakhma’—must be the body of the innocent child of a mobed or priest. No one, not even the chief watcher, is allowed to approach within a distance of thirty paces of these towers. Of all living human beings ‘nassesalars’—corpse-carriers—alone enter and leave the ‘Tower of Silence.’” (Helena Blavatsky)