I am Rafael Walthert from the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Zurich. This video is going to be about the entanglement of a religious community and its environment, specifically about Dokhmenashini, impurity, and the landscape of Doongerwadi. Dokhmenashini, as a system of the disposal of the dead, can be seen as a way of dealing with impurity. The body of the deceased are potential sources of Nasu – impurity caused by the demon of putrefaction. Doongerwadi is a specific location where this is being dealt with and purity can be maintained. The situation without vultures at Doongerwadi was seen as a case of pollution. In the discussion, the religious notion of impurity was strongly connected to the more secular notion of environmental pollution. Thus, religion and the environment were closely intertwined. This was the way the problem of Dokhmenashini without vultures was being framed: “Dead bodies in large numbers lie in a highly decomposed and putrifying condition for months emanating offensive odour […]. All this causes or tends to cause environmental pollution leading to health hazard affecting public health." Here we have the more religious notion of putrefactionn caused by Nasu, connected to the notion of environmental pollution and health hazard on the more secular side. Cremation was seen by liberal opponents among the Parsis as a cleaner solution. But Parsis defending the old system stressed the fact that cremation itself poses an environmental risk. Noshir Dadrawala, an orthodox Parsi, quotes different media reports about cremation polluting the atmosphere with dioxin, hydrochloric acid, and carbon dioxide. Cremation, he concludes, contributes to greenhouse gases: "The bottom line – old is, indeed, gold. Dokhmenashini, though considerably strained in Mumbai, is still, without any doubt whatsoever, the most eco-friendly system in the world." So from the orthodox’ point of view, this system had to be maintained. The aviary project was one attempt to re-establish it. What was the rationale behind it? Here we have a letter of Khojeste Mistree to the Minister of Environment and Forests. “We worship the elements of fire, the earth, and the waters, which should not be defiled, ritually, in any way whatsoever; this act may be seen as our commitment to nature conservation… …therefore, we would like to strengthen our existing system by augmenting the vulture loss, by breeding these birds in captivity, on our religious grounds known as Doongerwadi in Mumbai.” The orthodox Mistree could convince the State Government to allow the project to continue. But by its critics, the aviary was seen as a massive infringement into the existing situation. The aviaries on the Doongerwadi ground would have been huge. Personnel would have had to work there permanently, and the vultures would have had to be trained to eat meat by feeding them dead animals. For some, this again went against the concept of an eco-friendly system. In his critique of the aviary, Homi B. Dhalla pointed to the carcasses necessary to train and feed the vultures. “It is stated that ‘The method of Dokhmenashini comprises the use of natural elements only…’ What is natural about having carcasses inside or outside the towers?” The aviary was seen as economically and ecologically risky. Therefore, it has not been built by now and maybe it never will. There was one further attempt to keep the old system going. It was a project to establish Dokhmenashini at an alternative place in a town called Vasai, outside Mumbai, where vultures were considered to be more numerous. “The essence of this project is within its excellent ecological values. B. P. Sachinwalla also stresses the environment. “The site is ideally suited for that purpose as it is surrounded by dense forest with wildlife […]” This offer, although published in the Jam-e-Jamshed, was ignored by the broader Parsi-public. It did not become an alternative for Doongerwadi, perhaps because it was not situated in central Bombay. But for me, the main reason is as follows: Doongerwadi as a location became an important value in the community; a value that would not be given up just because of doubts about the functioning of the old system. The meaning and importance of the rituals was seen as inseparably intertwined with the location of Doongerwadi on Malabar Hill. How can we characterize the entanglement of the Parsis, their religious tradition, the landscape of Doongerwadi, and the environment in general? We have Doongerwadi embedded in the environment. For Zoroastrians, Doongerwadi and Dokhmenashini as a system of disposal are considered to deal ritually with the impurity caused by dead bodies, and therefore produce purity. But pollution in the environment leads to a loss of vultures, which are important for Dokhmenashini. This leads to the question, asked in the community, whether Doongerwadi by now rather causes pollution than prevents it? This pollution is seen as a religious one – impurity caused by Nasu, the demon of corpse matter – as well as a secular one – stench and health hazard. What now? One idea was to give up Doongerwadi and perform the rites outside of Mumbai where there were considered to be more vultures. But this was rejected. Doongerwadi as a specific place and landscape has too much traditional value to just leave it. The other idea was to introduce new infrastructures like a crematorium or an aviary. But both were considered to be the cause of pollution themselves and, especially the aviary, as an interruption into the existing landscape. The existing system was in principle still seen as the most eco-friendly method of disposal, which should be strengthened in a minimally invasive way. That is why the only measures accepted were the solar panels, which did not change the system much and were considered to re-establish the eco-friendly mode of disposal. The entanglement of religion, ritual, and landscape made the Dokhmenashini problem a highly delicate affair. The danger for purity and religious tradition were considered to be so high that no interference remained the only option for the community to deal with its environment and the landscape at Doongerwadi.