In grave turn of events, many bodies buried together in crowded Bengaluru cemetery

"In that town, there is no place for the living or the dead; you can't find a place for six or three burials!" 

This is a popular saying in Kannada, which is meant to drive home the fact that land has become expensive and out of reach.

But, for the Bengaluru metropolis, this popular saying is literally coming true.

Cemeteries under strain

In a grave turn of events, it has now become a norm in Bengaluru cemeteries to build many 'floors' within graves to bury the dead. This is currently happening at Kallahalli Cemetery in Cox Town, Benguluru.

But, how many corpses can be buried in one grave? In this particular Bengaluru graveyard, five or six corpses are buried in one grave.

Due to lack of space in the graveyard, people dig up a spot multiple times and bury several members of the same family in the same grave.

As the population in Bengaluru metropolis continues to grow, the city's cemeteries are under strain for lack of space to bury bodies. In fact, the Cox Town cemetery was in the news during the COVID pandemic in May 2021, when the workers refused to bury bodies due to lack of space. Around 250 bodies were buried in this cemetery during the lockdown.

BBMP order

Cox's Town Kallahalli cemetery in Bengaluru has a huge graveyard spread over 84 acres. The notice displayed in front of this graveyard by the municipal body, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palika for public attention, reads: "Construction of graves after cremation is prohibited in this Rudhra Bhoomi for any reason. If any person trespasses and constructs a grave, legal action will be taken against them."

In this cemetery in Cox Town, cremations through electric cremation and shroud burial (tomb construction) are done. But now, amid the lack of space in the cemetery, the BBMP has issued an order prohibiting the digging up of existing graves.

Due to this rule, it is illegal to dig up graves and bury more people, relatives though they may be, in the same grave. But, at the Cox Town graveyard, rules ar being flouted and eight to ten corpses are buried in each grave.

Multiple names

The names of the deceased feature on the tombs with the date of birth and death and what stands out is that several names are mentioned on one tomb.

For example, there is one K Kannan in 1994, K Thangammala in 1998, K Devendra in 2002, K Selvaraj in 2015 and K Sundar in 2021, and they all have been buried in one tomb. Hundreds of such tombs can be seen here.

In all, 1,866 bodies were cremated here in 2021, 1,529 in 2022, and 1,486 in 2023. 

Residents of Cox Town, Fraser Town, Shivajinagar, Baiyappanahalli, Maruti Sevanagar, Banasawadi and Jeevanhalli barangays are usually cremated at this local cemetery, local resident NS Ravi told The Federal. 

Meanwhile, BBMP Medical Officer Manjula, talking to The Federal, said: "An order has been issued prohibiting the construction of graves in the BBMP cemetery. And so, construction of graves will not be allowed in the Kallahalli cemetery as well. Action can be taken against those who build graves illegally."

However, Kutty, who has been cremating bodies here for many years, told The Federal that the burial of corpses isstill going on. "Those who come for burial bring people from outside and bury the corpse with their help," he said.

Not clean

Citizens also complain that the cemetery is not clean. Narayana Reddy, a local senior citizen, said: "The management of Kalpahalli crematorium is very poor and without any kind of cleanliness, it is like insulting the dead. BBMP should make a special plan to develop this crematorium scientifically."

Chinnathambi, another Cox Town resident, added, "Because there is no space to bury the dead in the cemetery, we are not able to follow the burial traditions. Now, we have to choose to burn our dead."

Another special feature of this cemetery is that former President Neelam Sanjeev Reddy's body was cremated here. There is a special memorial built in his name near the electric crematorium. 

(This article was originally published in The Federal Karnataka.)