CUTTACK: Despite being a Christian by religion, Jayanta Mahapatra did not want to be buried. Instead, he wished to be cremated at Khan Nagar in Cuttack.
The celebrated writer, his relatives said, was claustrophobic. “There was one incident that he had come across where a man, after being declared dead, was found alive in his coffin. This incident stayed in his mind and thus, he wanted to be cremated and not buried,” said his granddaughter Sikha. He was afraid of being put in a casket after being wrongfully declared dead, she added.
As per his last wish, Mahapatra was cremated at the Khan Nagar crematorium with full state honours in presence of dignitaries including Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain. The globally-acclaimed writer breathed his last at 9 pm on Sunday at SCB MCH in Cuttack. In his funeral instructions to his family and friends, Mahapatra had said that his ashes should be immersed in Chandrabhaga, by the sea.