Ep 19: Minakshi Dewan: The Final Farewell across India's faiths
Jan 9, 2024 ·
35m 59s
Last rites can be wonderfully life-affirming as they guide a family through the ultimate sendoff and bring a community together. A lot of common themes run across India’s various belief...
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Last rites can be wonderfully life-affirming as they guide a family through the ultimate sendoff and bring a community together. A lot of common themes run across India’s various belief systems, explains Minakshi Dewan, author of The Final Farewell, Understanding the Last Rites and Rituals of India’s Major Faiths, published by HarperCollins.
Listen in as she talks about her experience of visiting Haridwar where the family ‘tirth purohit’ showed her records from 1941, handwritten by her great-grandfather. She mentions a conversation with an outspoken Parsi priest who offered cremation services over sky burials to his community and was dragged to court for it. Women, she notes, are stepping up increasingly to perform last rites defying patriarchal norms. In future, she also sees the trend of funeral agencies picking up, as seen in the West.
Follow and share to grow the conversation.
Chapters
00:35 Starting on the book after performing her father’s last rites
03:32 Hierarchies of Hindu priests – maha brahmins, tirth purohits, etc
05:40 In Haridwar, meeting the tirth purohit who maintains the family’s ‘death registers’
10:35 Parsi priest Framroze Mirza, offering transition from sky burials to cremations
14:35 Beliefs around deaths across faiths determine code of life
17:24 Death as a celebration in Sikhism
18:40 Rituals provide a platform to grieve
19:40 Experience at Baba Kina Ram’s ashram in Varanasi; the Aghori belief in non-duality
21:55 Challenge to performing rituals during the pandemic
23:20 The trend of women performing last rites for a parent
28:10 Funeral directors and agencies of the future
Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: swishingmindsets@gmail.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
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Listen in as she talks about her experience of visiting Haridwar where the family ‘tirth purohit’ showed her records from 1941, handwritten by her great-grandfather. She mentions a conversation with an outspoken Parsi priest who offered cremation services over sky burials to his community and was dragged to court for it. Women, she notes, are stepping up increasingly to perform last rites defying patriarchal norms. In future, she also sees the trend of funeral agencies picking up, as seen in the West.
Follow and share to grow the conversation.
Chapters
00:35 Starting on the book after performing her father’s last rites
03:32 Hierarchies of Hindu priests – maha brahmins, tirth purohits, etc
05:40 In Haridwar, meeting the tirth purohit who maintains the family’s ‘death registers’
10:35 Parsi priest Framroze Mirza, offering transition from sky burials to cremations
14:35 Beliefs around deaths across faiths determine code of life
17:24 Death as a celebration in Sikhism
18:40 Rituals provide a platform to grieve
19:40 Experience at Baba Kina Ram’s ashram in Varanasi; the Aghori belief in non-duality
21:55 Challenge to performing rituals during the pandemic
23:20 The trend of women performing last rites for a parent
28:10 Funeral directors and agencies of the future
Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: swishingmindsets@gmail.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
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