Srinagar, May 4 -- Traditional Zoroastrian burial practices are facing increasing challenges due to the rapid decline of vultures in India, Iran, and Pakistan.

For generations, Parsi communities have laid their deceased to rest in structures known as dakhma, or "towers of silence." These circular, raised structures are designed to prevent the contamination of the sacred elements-earth, fire, and water-by human remains.

Bodies are placed atop the towers to decompose, a process facilitated by vultures and other scavengers. After exposure to the elements for up to a year, the bones are collected in an ossuary pit at the tower's center. Lime is used to accelerate their decomposition, and the remaining material, along with rainwater runoff, ...