Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh): A 60-year-old unmarried man, in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri, organised his own death rituals and community feast while still alive because he was worried about who would perform his last rites after his death.
The unusual event took place in Hajinagar village of Karera area.
Here Kalyan Pal, who lives alone and has no close family members, arranged rituals usually performed after a person’s death.
According to villagers, Kalyan Pal travelled to Prayagraj 2 days before the event and performed religious rituals in his own name. He also took a dip in the Ganga, similar to the tradition followed after immersion of ashes.
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After returning to his village, he organised a 24-hour devotional programme and later hosted a large community feast on Saturday. Around 6k to 7k people from nearby villages attended the event and had food.
The event was organised exactly like a traditional death feast, with the only difference being that the man for whom the feast was being held was himself welcoming the guests. Special arrangements for food and seating were made for the guests.
Invitation card goes viral
The invitation card for the programme had gone viral on social media a few days earlier. It described the event as ‘final Ganga worship and feast in front of oneself.’
Only son and unmarried
Villagers said Kalyan Pal is the only son in his family and never got married. He was deeply worried that after his death there would be nobody to perform his funeral rites and religious rituals properly.
Speaking emotionally, Kalyan Pal said he now feels relieved because he has completed all the important rituals connected to his final journey while still alive.
“Now whenever death comes, I will die peacefully because I have already seen all the rituals related to my last rites with my own eyes,” he said.
