Trivikrama Mahadeva: Bengaluru's 'burial man' is battling a hard life

A man who dedicated his entire life to giving dignified sendoffs to abandoned bodies is now “abandoned”.

Undertaker Trivikrama Mahadeva, who lives in Bengaluru, has buried thousands of unclaimed bodies, ensuring their last respects. The unclaimed bodies, which were abandoned by their relatives or not identified, made him organise the funerals for those. This made people give him the nickname ‘Trivikrama’.

So committed to his mission was Mahadeva that he even ensure the final rites of LTTE member Sivarasan, a prime accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

Now, Mahadeva, 61, is bedridden after being diagnosed with cancer. Doctors said he is battling Stage 3 lung cancer. The family is not in a position to afford his medical expenses.

Mahadeva has four children and his elder son Praveen, who completed his master’s in social work (MSW) could not fulfill his father’s wish of becoming a police officer but continued his dad’s legacy of burying unclaimed bodies.

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He has already organised funerals for around 20,000 bodies along with his younger brother Kiran Kumar who is still pursuing his second-year bachelor’s degree at a government college. Mahadeva’s elder daughter Sonu, after her PUC, got married. Another daughter Arpita is a graduate and now the family is searching for a groom for her. Mahadeva’s wife Pushpalatha (50) is looking after her husband and son Praveen is the family’s sole breadwinner.

“My father is a great person, who served society by giving respect to unclaimed bodies. He gave education to us. However, we are in poverty and struggling to lead our lives. Now, we need to look after my father as well as my dependent family,” Praveen said and added that he is also married and has a little son.

Who is Mahadeva?

He has a record of burying around 150,000 unclaimed bodies since the age of 12. He came from a remote village of Nanjangud in Mysore, which is around 160 km from Karnataka capital Bengaluru.

When he was 7, he came to Bengaluru to seek admission to the government-run Victoria Hospital for his mother, who had serious health issues. He sold his mother’s jewellery to admit her for treatment. It was only two weeks later that Mahadeva came to know about his mother’s death, and a hospital staff buried the body as there was no person to claim it other than Mahadeva.

This made him change his mind to help the unclaimed bodies and joined as a helper with a person who was burying such bodies and became Trivikrama.

His earned around ₹500 to ₹1,000 per ‘job’; the police gave him that for burying the unclaimed bodies in and around the city. Major incidents included burying the body of Sivarasan of LTTE, who was one of the accused in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Sivarasan was killed in a police firing after he was hiding near Konanakunte in Bengaluru in 1991. Mahadeva took Sivarasan’s body in his horse-driven cart towards a crematorium and was escorted by the police, much to his surprise.

In 1983, while burying the mortal remains of those who died in the Gangaram’s building collapsed in Bengaluru, he accidentally fell into the grave and bodies fell over him. However, he was rescued with the help of the police.

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His life stories were portrayed in local, national, and international magazines. He was awarded the Chief Minister’s gold medal when SM Krishna was the CM of Karnataka in 1999.

The mayor of Bengaluru donated ₹25,000 to buy a three-wheeler vehicle and so, he shifted from horse-cart to a tempo to carry unclaimed bodies. He was also awarded Bengaluru’s prestigious Kempegowda award in 2004 and the Godfrey Phillips Bravery Award for Social Acts of Courage in 2006. Former President APJ Abdul Kalam felicitated him with a bronze pooja lamp weighing 80 kg in a function in 2004.

Movie on Mahadeva

A movie in Kannada “Samskaravantha” is about the life and experiences of Mahadeva. The storyline was about an ordinary man who has made it his mission to cremate unclaimed dead bodies. The film is directed by debutant K Paarthasarathi and produced by Saarathi Nath Creators. The character of Mahadev was played by famous theatre artist Late Kashi. He also acted in the movie “Kaivara Tataiah”, where he played the role of a person burying bodies.