TIRUCHY: A quiet cremation ground where the scent of incense clashes with smoke from burning pyres, for more than two decades, P Vijayakumar, his wife, V Chitra, and their daughter, V Keerthana, have been performing the last rites for destitute and unclaimed bodies.
Vijayakumar, a 50-year-old yoga master holding a diploma in advanced yoga, said, “Death is the peak of sorrow. For the destitute, the abandoned, or those without a known identity, the question of who will conduct their final rites has always remained unanswered. Many perish alone on pavements, bus stands, railway stations, or even riverbanks.”
His wife and daughter stand by his side in this solemn act of compassion, a break from tradition, as women have historically been barred from cremation grounds in many communities. “Many people opposed us. But to us, this is a sacred duty,” he recalls.
During the second wave of Covid-19, when fear kept even families away from their dead, Vijayakumar’s family stepped forward to bury many such bodies. While his burials reflect his service to the departed, Vijayakumar’s free public library in Puthur, Tiruchy, exemplifies his devotion to the living. For 25 years, he has maintained this modest library outside his home, housing over 25,000 books open to anyone, anytime, no fees, no membership, no restrictions.
“A house without books is like a hall without windows,” he says. “It is said that when a library opens, a prison closes. Knowledge increases when one reads good books.”
What makes it unusual is the absence of a librarian—visitors are trusted to walk in, pick a book, read, and leave. In recognition of this initiative, Vijayakumar was honoured as Thiruvalar Puthaga Priyar (Book Lover) by the Rotary Club of Tiruchy in 2014 and received the Arivuchcholai Award in 2024. Beyond books, Vijayakumar is passionate about preserving Tamil culture. His home doubles as a museum of traditional household artifacts, tools, and implements that were once central to Tamil life but are now disappearing in the rush of modernisation.
“I travelled to villages across Tiruchy and nearby districts to collect these items,” he shares. “We documented them in Tamil and English so students and researchers could learn from them. College students now come here to study them, and some families even donate unused objects.”
The museum’s exhibits include yokes for ploughing, earthen pots and grain storage containers (kulumai, pathayam), fishing boards and weed-cutting sickles, bamboo baskets and water-lifting devices (kuvalai), traditional ploughs, measuring tools, and bronze vessels, curd churners, wooden ladles, and ceramic jars for food preservation, sickles, swords, and stone grinders, the pallankuzhi (traditional board game), and ancient palm-leaf manuscripts.
“Every object tells a story,” Vijayakumar says. “For today’s youth, these artifacts are a bridge to the past—a reminder of Tamil life, culture, and values.”
Vijayakumar’s love for preservation also extends to philately and numismatics. His collection features definitive and commemorative stamps, postcards, first-day covers, rare coins and currency notes.
“Coins are not just currency—they are history,” he notes. “They proclaim the ideologies of kings, the culture of the people, and government policies. A coin is a document narrating a nation’s past.”
Behind all these efforts stands a family united by compassion and service. While Chitra balances her legal career with community work, 20-year-old Keerthana, a B.Com, LLB (Hons) second-year student from a private university, follows in their footsteps.
Together, they live by a simple philosophy: to give dignity to the dead, knowledge to the living, and pride to their culture.
(Edited by Ashyl Paul)