Mysuru Woman Performs Mother's Last Rites Defying Age-old Norms

A social worker named Dr MP Varsha’s wife Vanajakshi Varsha (40) died after suffering from an illness in Mysuru. According to Local 18 Kannada, with no male progeny left to perform the funeral rites, Vanajakshi’s daughter Rachna stepped in to complete this ritual. During this time, Dr MP Varsha guided his daughter to fulfil the funeral-related rituals. Rachna, an engineering student and one of the most popular drummers in Mysuru, completed the final rites at Swagruha and Harishchandra Ghat. These places are located at the foot of the Chamundi Hills. As visible in the clip, Rachna’s mother’s body was adorned with garlands and was carried to the crematorium on a cart. At the ghats, the priests also helped Rachna, in the completion of the funeral rites. At the crematorium, she covered her face with a mask, probably to avoid any infection.

The exact date of this incident cannot be ascertained. In the crematorium visuals, the date 04/06/2020 is visible but the language cannot be comprehended. Thus, it is not possible to conclude, that whether this video was recorded on this particular date or not.

For ages, only men attended and performed someone’s funeral rites. Reasons that were cited for this age-old custom are the conventional notions of women being weak-hearted, and certain other beliefs and gender norms. Now, women also take part in it.

In 2022, two girls named TG Varshini and TG Naganithya defied the age-old tradition and performed the last rituals of their father TG Gangadhar. According to a media report, their father had died following an illness. Gangadhar was the secretary of Sri Vasavi Kanyaka Parameshwari temple at Chickpete in Tumakuru. He has 3 daughters. Initially, people tried to identify the male relatives of the late secretary, but then his 2 daughters stepped in to be the pallbearers.

In a media interview, Lakshmi, Gangadhar’s wife said,” We’ve treated our children equally. My husband raised our daughters like boys and was always supportive. While some of our relatives said women cannot go to the cremation site, we consulted a pontiff within our community who told us that there are no such rules and women can also visit the crematorium.”