Tower of Silence
Tower of Silence
3.5
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Monday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Tuesday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Wednesday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Thursday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Friday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Saturday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Sunday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
About
So as not to defile sacred air, earth or water by cremating, burying or putting corpses in water, the Parsee sect places their dead within a tower, where the bodies are consumed by birds.
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Neighbourhood: South Mumbai
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3.5
59 reviews
Excellent
9
Very good
17
Average
22
Poor
5
Terrible
6
arnavazdentist
Mumbai, India99 contributions
Oct 2013 • Solo
the towers of silence in mumbai ...a place where we, the parsees, dispose of our dead.
ours is a religion of cleanliness, love, charity and we are exhorted to be environment-friendly...we do not believe in polluting the environment..
so we do not pollute the soilo by burial and do not pollute the air by burning..we just leave our dead open to the sun, the air and the birds, in the highest area of the city......
thats the tower of silence.
ours is a religion of cleanliness, love, charity and we are exhorted to be environment-friendly...we do not believe in polluting the environment..
so we do not pollute the soilo by burial and do not pollute the air by burning..we just leave our dead open to the sun, the air and the birds, in the highest area of the city......
thats the tower of silence.
Written 15 October 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Malcolm D
Sydney, Australia533 contributions
Jan 2014 • Family
You have got to be kidding!
This is not a tourist attraction, please leave your camera at home.
This is a sacred environment where the dead are farewelled, prayers are said, ceremonies are held, and life is contemplated.
Feel free to come to the Towers of Silence if you want to pay your respects to a departed Parsi friend, a lost soul-mate, or loved member of the family.
Else, if you do not understand the sanctity of the location, or the grief at peoples' loss; and are seeking a 'photo-op' or a 'tourist attraction'; please show your respect by staying away.
Many thanks
This is not a tourist attraction, please leave your camera at home.
This is a sacred environment where the dead are farewelled, prayers are said, ceremonies are held, and life is contemplated.
Feel free to come to the Towers of Silence if you want to pay your respects to a departed Parsi friend, a lost soul-mate, or loved member of the family.
Else, if you do not understand the sanctity of the location, or the grief at peoples' loss; and are seeking a 'photo-op' or a 'tourist attraction'; please show your respect by staying away.
Many thanks
Written 2 December 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
gammo
Mumbai, India284 contributions
Feb 2015 • Solo
Went for a funeral here today...though not an attraction it is a really quiet peaceful spot right off Kemps Corner. Peacocks and other birds inhabit the scrub and forest adjoining the Funeral chambers and the atmosphere is unlike any other part of South Mumbai even though a visit here is only for final rites..not pleasure.
Written 13 February 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
macedonboy
Glasgow, UK186,490 contributions
Nov 2019
The Tower of Silence is a religious site for Zoroastrians to carry out their burial custom of excarnation. There’s a long climb to this site and it’s not possible for non-believers to visit or even get close. You can see a model of the tower at the Zoroastrians centre in Malabar Hill, but still it’s a bit pointless.
Written 29 November 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Experience14414
london1 contribution
I am a Parsi and tower of silence is the final resting place in my relegion comng from bombay i have spent nearly 6 years near tower of silence as my girlfriend use to stay near by its very peaceful there and its amazing to learn about the tower of silence one can see peacocks there and during rain its amazing. Good view as well.
Written 23 January 2005
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Cadiz_lover
London, UK31,424 contributions
Feb 2013 • Couples
Many years ago on a trip to Bombay my colleague knowingly looked towards Malabar Hill and mentioned the Tower of Silence and pointed towards what I thought was a water tower. Having returned after learning more of the Parsi (Zoroastrian) and visiting Malabar Hill I discovered that what I had seen earlier was indeed a water tower and the actual holy grounds enclosing the so called "towers" are surrounded by acres of trees and one can only make out the structure of one from the road leading up to Malabar hill from "Kemps Corner". (Ridge Road)
The metal gate to the arrival buildings where the deceased are conveyed has a notice "This is Holy Land Do Not Litter & Spit" . Of course no non Parsi is allowed inside and there is frankly something quite eerie about the surrounds. The ritual end of life is indeed a private one shared only by an occasional flesh eating bird or the burning sun of Mumbai.
Opposite the gated entrance with the notice are some steps leading all the way down to Hughes Road, (now Sitaram Patkar Marg) steep in places, but clearly a route used by Parsis living in their housing colony below Malabar Hill maybe going to attend the ceremony in the sky above. Am glad that I found the site.
The metal gate to the arrival buildings where the deceased are conveyed has a notice "This is Holy Land Do Not Litter & Spit" . Of course no non Parsi is allowed inside and there is frankly something quite eerie about the surrounds. The ritual end of life is indeed a private one shared only by an occasional flesh eating bird or the burning sun of Mumbai.
Opposite the gated entrance with the notice are some steps leading all the way down to Hughes Road, (now Sitaram Patkar Marg) steep in places, but clearly a route used by Parsis living in their housing colony below Malabar Hill maybe going to attend the ceremony in the sky above. Am glad that I found the site.
Written 11 March 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nergish2014
Pune, India152 contributions
Mar 2014 • Solo
sadly i came here for the funeral of a friend's mother last year...not to view it as an attraction. There were several funeral halls scattered on the enormous wooded premises,seemed to be in good upkeep. Saw peacocks and crows but no vultures which were supposed to be the birds that the Parsees depend upon to dispose of the carrion. peaceful serene atmosphere but definitely not an attraction in my view,
Written 12 January 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Prabha
Mumbai, India757 contributions
Feb 2018 • Friends
Truly, it cannot be classified as an attraction as this is a crematorium for Parsi community only. Infact, a non-Parsi is not even allowed inside after a certain point. The last rituals of the Parsis after their death are performed here and their body is then kept on the Tower for the scavengers to feed on. Since the Parsi rituals are complex and long, which can go upto 4 days, their are cottages built inside for the families to live. The place is huge and in the lap of nature. One cannot believe that outside the boundary, there is busy & noisy city out there.
Written 12 February 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
shernosh
Mumbai17 contributions
Dec 2012 • Solo
The Tower of Silence or Doongerwadi as it is known amongst the Zoroastrians of Mumbai is the final resting place for the Zoraostrians of Mumbai and its suburbs and is certainly not a Tourist spot. It covers a mammoth area in arguably the costliest piece of real estate in Mumbai and has often been under the prying area of land sharks.This place is NOT OUT OF BOUNDS for non Zoroastrians many of whom come to pay their condolences to the family members of the bereaved, however it is not recommended for a person to visit it from a tourist perspective. Though there are no vultures now(an aviary for breeding vultures in captivity is being proposed) if one is lucky one can spot a few peacocks especially during the rains when the place becomes lush green.
Written 5 December 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
LuizDutraNeto
Rio de Janeiro, RJ8,570 contributions
Feb 2016 • Friends
You would probably have been told or read about Mumbai's "Tower of Silence", its mysteries and meanings. As a matter of fact, it is not a tourist attraction, it is not opened for visitors, and specially to those that do not belong to the Parse community and to the Zoroastrian faith. From the outside, you'll see almost nothing behind the fenced gates. And from "Hanging Gardens", although many reviews mentioned seeing the "Tower of Silence" from them, I didn't see anything either, except a heavily forested and green area. If you are still curious about it, the "Tower of Silence" is a circular structure where Zoroastrians depose the bodies of their beloved ones after their death (different circles are envisaged for men, women and children). These rituals have been practiced for centuries by Zoroastrians and the Parse community, and they signify an ultimate act of charity, providing birds with what would otherwise be destroyed. The "Tower of Silence" is a holy and religious place, not at all a tourist attraction. Show respect and don't even try to visit it. Go somewhere else ...
Written 10 September 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi... If I want to visit the tower of silence just for the purpose to know about the custom and rituals of community, is it possible?
Written 28 November 2018
Hey, no it won't be. The entry is only restricted to Parsis that too only if they have to leave a dead body up there.
Written 6 December 2018
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