Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Open-air pyre

This has reference to the article, “Mainstream Hindus frown upon open-air pyre campaign (April 2).” There is some justification in Devender Ghai’s campaign and to dismiss it as “headline-grabbing” controversy is uncharitable. In modernist pretensions, many faith-related issues are frowned upon by mainstream Hindus owing to social, environmental, contextual and personal reasons. Cremation of the dead in the Hindu religious thought is one such. Hinduism believes in the efficacy of “havan,” a form of offering. Certain prescribed materials are offered to “Agni (God of fire)” by the devout and it is intended for both spiritual and temporal uplift. The human body, upon cessation of life, is considered one such offering. It was conceived as the last “havan.” The pyre could also be lit in a shed as is normally done in the cremation grounds these days.

T.R. Anandan,

Coimbatore

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