Corpse Demon

17 snips

Apr 21, 2023

Avir Mitra, a contributing editor and ER doctor, dives into the world of Zoroastrianism and its ancient burial practices. Discover the shocking decline of vultures in India, crucial for sky burials, leading to a crisis in both ecology and tradition. Avir unravels a mystery tied to veterinary medications that threaten these scavengers' survival. The conversation ponders morality, culture, and the human impact on nature, all while highlighting the unique perspectives of the Parsi community on death and afterlife.

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ANECDOTE

Vultures Vanish

Avir Mitra discusses the Parsi community's sky burials.
A woman discovered rotting bodies in the Tower of Silence due to a sudden absence of vultures.

INSIGHT

Nature's Immune System

Vultures have incredibly robust digestive systems, tolerating diseases like rabies and anthrax.
Their acidic stomachs neutralize pathogens, acting as nature's cleanup crew.

ANECDOTE

Permit Procurement

Munir Virani faced bureaucratic hurdles in India and Nepal while investigating vulture deaths.
He secured permits in Pakistan by invoking the India-Pakistan rivalry.

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Heaven and hell, Judgement Day, monotheism — these ideas all came from one ancient Persian religion: Zoroastrianism. Also: Sky Burials. Zoroastrians put their dead on top of a structure called The Tower of Silence where vultures devour the body in a matter of hours. It’s clean, efficient, eco-friendly. It’s how it’s been for thousands of years.

Until 2006. That’s when a Zoroastrian woman living in Mumbai snuck up into the tower and found bloated, rotting bodies everywhere. The vultures were gone. And not just at the tower — all across the country.

In this episode, we follow the Kenyan bird biologist, Munir Virani, as he gets to the bottom of this. A mystery whose stakes are not just the end of an ancient burial practice, but the health of all the world’s ecosystems.

The answer, in unexpected ways, points back to us.

Special thanks to Daniel Solomon, Peter Wilson, Samik Bindu, Vibhu Prakash, Heather Natola and the Rapture Trust in New Jersey, and Avir’s uncle Hoshang Mulla, who told him about this story over Thanksgiving dinner.

EPISODE CREDITSReported by - Avir Mitrawith help from - Sindhu GnanasambandanProduced by - Sindhu Gnanasambandanwith help from - Pat WaltersOriginal music and sound design contributed by - Jeremy Bloomwith mixing help from - Arianne WackFact-checking by - Diane Kellyand Edited by - Pat Walters

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