A tower of silence, or dakhma, is a funerary structure used by people of the Zoroastrian faith. It is a practice of eliminating the dead, exposing the bodies to the sun and vultures. According to Zoroastrian belief, the four elements (fire, water, earth and air) are sacred and should not be polluted by disposing of the dead through cremation and burial. To avoid pollution from these elements, Zoroastrians expose corpses to scavenging animals.
The Towers of Silence are elevated platforms with three concentric circles within them. The bodies of men are arranged in the outer circle, those of women in the middle circle and those of children in the inner circle. Vultures can then come and eat your meat. The remaining bones are left to dry and bleach in the sun before being deposited in an ossuary. These towers can be found in both Iran and India.