6 DEATH & THE MEANING OF LIFE THE MIDDLE EAST IN | September 2010 I this cemeteryshowsittobea remarkabletestamenttothe only afractionofthewholespace, closeinspectionof north-west cornerofBrookwood . Occupying The Zoroastrianburialgroundistuckedawayinthe train andstationwerehitbyan airraid. journey –aservicethatcontinued until1941,whenboth made dailyroundtripsconveyingupto35partiesper designated stationin BridgeRoad. The train employed totransportcoffinsandfuneralpartiesfroma of theproject,LondonandSouth Western Railwaywas and openedtothepublic.Inkeepingwithgrandscale inSurrey, BrookwoodCemeterywasconsecrated and, afteracquiringthe2,000-acresiteinvicinityof Mausoleum Companywasestablishedby Act ofParliament, city’s dead.In1852theLondonNecropolisandNational public concernoverhowtodealwiththevolumeof shape inthemid19thcenturyresponsetogrowing The ideaofagreatmetropolitancemeteryforLondontook sparsely scatteredgraves. Ismailis andShias,ortheun-landscapedheathwithits belonging toreligiousminoritiessuchasthe Ahmadiyya, areas containinggrandmausoleums;orburialplots put asideforparticularLondonparishes;orthelandscaped the 1920sandexpandedafter World War Two; ortheground are passingthroughthenationalzonesthatwerelaidoutin the senseofbeinginaparkorgardenremainswhetheryou leading throughgladesofevergreen treesandshrubs.But are alsolikelytogetthoroughlylostinthemazeofpaths by itsvastness,emptinessandmagnificentfoliage. You © MalcolmDeboo did, onasunnyafternooninlateJulyyouwillbestruck cemetery inParis,ifyouvisitBrookwoodCemetery, asI N contrasttothepopulouscharacterofPèreLachaise The Zoroastrianburialground at BrookwoodCemetery Sarah Stewart or water. Puritylawshavebothatheological significance of thegoodcreations,including thoseofplants,earth,fire source ofpollution,doesnot come intocontactwithany , ensuresthatthebody, whichisconsideredtheworst still inexistenceIndiaand Pakistan butnolongerin exposure inadakhma,ortowerofsilence. This practice, in IranandIndia,Zoroastriansdisposedoftheirdeadby sagri orchapelbuiltforfuneralservices. At thetime,both yards, whichwasplantedwithtreesandlaidouta to secureaplotinBrookwoodCemeteryof2,500square Fund oftheZoroastriansEurope.Moneywasraised concerns ofthenewlyformedorganisation, Religious ground becameapressingneedandoneoftheprimary Christian cemetery, theacquisitionofaseparate with them.Sincetheycouldnotbegivenlastritesina study andtowork,someofthembringingtheirfamilies Bythe1860s,ParsisweretravellingtoEngland Wadia: dedicated tothetextileentrepreneurandphilanthropistN. summed upintheinscriptionononesideofmausoleum and ornamentation. The interweavingofthesehistoriesis the Zoroastrianstoryistoldthrougharchitecture,epitaphs, period inIndiadowntothemoderndiasporaBritain, From itsrootsinancientIran,throughtheBritishcolonial history ofoneBritain’s smallestreligiousminorities. The faroffskyofwidefamedBritain. Who liehere peacefullyunder A citizenoftheloyaltownBombay Of theancient raceofPersia I amNowrosjee NashirwanjeeWadia DEATH & THE MEANING OF LIFE September 2010 | THE MIDDLE EAST IN LONDON 7

© Malcolm Deboo to Ghandi in his struggle against to Ghandi in his struggle in South racial discrimination graves belonging other Two Africa. are those to distinguished Merwanjee of the Sir Mancherjee a Bhownaggree (1851-1933), for Bethnal barrister and MP 1895 to Green North East from Bow and 1905 (nick-named ‘Sir for his pro-British views), Agree’ Wadia Mausoleum, (opposite); Mausoleum, Brookwood Wadia (1871-1918) (below) Tata Ratan J Sir buried at Brookwood. The three mausolea of the Tata family family Tata of the mausolea The three at Brookwood. buried and Sir Dorabji the site. of near the entrance in a row stand in the is finely decorated mausoleum Tata’s Lady Meherbai Median friezes depicting with brick glazed Persian style of stands the mausoleum guards. Next to it and Persian became philanthropist who a Tata, Nusserwanji Jamshedji him Industry’; next to the ‘Captain of Indian known as the Parsi financier Tata, of Sir Ratan is the mausoleum in 1916 known, among other and industrialist knighted of the arts and for his assistance things, for his patronage Saklatvala and the socialist-turned-communist Shapurji to1923 for North from 1922 (1874-1936), MP for his support and from 1924 to 1929 who went to prison is also the grave of There of the General Strike of 1926. died in 1909 while Dr Cowas Lalcaka, a Parsi doctor who from Wyllie trying to save the British official Sir Curzon by a The murder was planned and executed assassination. Dhingra at an annual young revolutionary called Madan Lal Association in London. celebration of the National Indian of a hero, While Parsis recall Dr Lalcaka as something as the first Indian Madan Lal Dhingra is celebrated by others The memory of Sir patriot to be executed on British soil. seems to have vanished without trace. Wyllie Curzon I would like to thank Malcolm Deboo, President, (ZTFE) and Rusi Dalal, Funds of Europe Trust Zoroastrian the documents from ZTFE, for providing former President, Harrow. Centre, Zoroastrian Editorial Board Sarah Stewart is a member of the MEL , and the khailas in var of King to burial required some to burial required Zoroastrian purity laws Zoroastrian meet the requirements of meet the requirements rationalisation in order to in order rationalisation The transition from exposure exposure from The transition lapis lazuli , the epic banglis in and , while family members stay in the members stay dakhme, while family and a practical application in insofar as insofar as in Zoroastrianism application practical and a is evil. It battle against the to sustain them helps keeping in the forces of evil imperative to overcome this moral soon as a As to life. ways that gives meaning all possible last resting the body to its it is essential to bring person dies, washing and rites, including the Last delay. place without are performed by corpse-bearers of the body, preparation of the at the site as nearby pavilions – known Iran. The transition from exposure to burial required some The transition from exposure Iran. to meet the rationalisation in order purity requirements of Zoroastrian The use of stone sarcophagi laws. this issue, was one way of addressing coffins though nowadays wooden When in the are commonly used. an issue, early 1900s space became over whether further debate ensued of . It to adopt the practice that modern crematoria was argued to less offensive are more efficient and, being enclosed, Indian method of religious sentiment than the traditional air. consigning a body to flames in the open The specifically Persian features of the Zoroastrian and polymath, cemetery were introduced by the Orientalist Birdwood, who was asked by Lady Jerbai, Sir George to arrange for the building of a Wadia, widow of N. N. Drawing mausoleum in memory of her late husband. text of the variously on the and Shahnama and his knowledge of the sites of Persepolis ambition was to create a Persian Birdwood’s , garden in keeping paradise in the form of an enclosure or or with the description of the dwelling place from who, according to one version of his legend, fell Yima the Accordingly, grace and became the first of men to die. plants and cemetery was to be planted with herbaceous Birdwood flowering shrubs that were natives of Persia. with the Greek enumerates them at some length together come down and Latin names through which they have myrtle, They include asparagus, gherkin, jasmine, to us. The and lemon. peach, rose, spinach, narcissus, cypress burial ground with mausoleum itself lies at the centre of the of the tomb of four pathways leading from it. It is a replica which Birdwood described in 1901 as Cyrus at Pasargadae, set on a base of seven steps, ‘a square sepulchral chamber, The and covered with a pent roof and gabled at either end’. sarcophagus is of alabaster inlaid with wall is decorated with alabaster replicas of reliefs from Naqsh-i Rustam. landmark mausolea, there are many Apart from the ordinary graves that depict Zoroastrian themes. Most display the characteristic winged disc in one of its various forms. The inscriptions on early Parsi tombstones often mention association with the British, while many of the later ones have elaborate ornamentation, including a fire vase made of alabaster or marble complete with flames, or a picture Apart from of the same etched into the tombstone itself. fire, the sun and moon are also commonly depicted, as well as the sea and plants. Zoroastrian graves tend to be less ornate but often contain a picture of the deceased and sometimes a poem engraved on the headstone. On one such grave there was a cup containing a red residue that my Zoroastrian companion informed me had once been filled with wine. Evidently wine was commonly sprinkled over the grave in the old days but in Iran has been replaced by rosewater. are no Parsis or Irani Zoroastrians among Although there listed by the Brookwood Cemetery the ‘necropolis notables’ are members of all the prominent Parsi families Society,