UDUPI: Broken benches, overgrown bushes, torn clothes, dry flowers and earthen pots. These are the things that you associate a crematorium with. But here is a crematorium with a difference. It is clean and has a lush green cover, making people mistake it to be a park. Only when they step inside do they realise that this place at the Sarkari Gudde in Katapady gram panchayat at Kaup taluk in Udupi district is where the final rites of the dead are conducted.
Though it is now touted as a model for other crematoriums, it was not all that rosy till recently. The area where the crematorium is located was known to be a ‘black spot’, where garbage used to be dumped. After intense efforts by several Good Samaritans, including the local panchayat members, the crematorium is now a tidy place with a garden, giving it the dignity and respect the deceased deserve.
This crematorium was started in 1962. But the actual development — its transformation — took place six years ago when the panchayat showed interest in turning it into a model crem atorium. Kishore Poojari, who works at the crematorium, told The New Sunday Express that 30 cents of barren land near the crematorium was mindlessly used as a dump yard.
He then proposed the idea before the local elected representatives and the Katapady Gram Panchayat decided to transform it. Indira S Acharya, president of the panchayat, and Abubakar AR, vice-president, meticulously planned its transformation. Apart from a spacious waiting area, storage room to keep firewood and an ash pond were built, while CCTV cameras were installed.
The crematorium’s courtyard was spruced up with interlocking tiles and stone benches for the relatives of the dead to sit and perform the rituals. The local panchayat approached the zilla panchayat for funds to lay the interlocking tiles and Rs 2.36 lakh was sanctioned through the panchayat raj engineering division last year. Poojari says the timing for cremations is fixed between 7 am and 7 pm. But on some inevitable occasions, he has gone beyond the call of duty and assisted the bereaving family members to cremate their loved ones even late at night.
Though Rs 3,000 is charged for cremating a body, there have been several instances where the poor are not charged. Abubakar says that earlier, they were upset when the dumping of waste went on unabated.
“We understood that unless a garden is created in the available 30 cents of empty barren land, there will be no end to the garbage menace. More than 85 different species of fruit-bearing seedlings have been planted and they are flourishing now. Some vegetable plants were also planted. To ensure that everything in this crematorium is well organised, a toilet complex was built. A bathroom with shower facility is also available as many prefer to have a bath after the rituals at the crematorium,” he pointed out.
Acharya says a drip irrigation facility has been provided for the garden. “We want to send out a message that a well-maintained crematorium is useful for society. We have invested a lot of money and time on it,” she adds.
Ashok Rao, former president and now a member of the panchayat, came forward and donated lights for the crematorium in memory of his mother. Also, the walls inside the crematorium have some meaningful artwork on life and death. There are two chambers to cremate the bodies and are well maintained.