NEWCASTLE, ENGLAND, July 12, 2006: (HPI note: The claim made by the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society that the Hindu religion requires open-air cremation is questionable. Gas and electric crematoriums are in use in India, and the norm in other countries where they are used by Hindus without objection. No religious leader has publically stated, to our knowledge, that the use of gas and electric crematoriums is contrary to Hindu belief. There is also, according to our UK contacts, no general movement among UK Hindus demanding open-air cremation.)
A man’s body was reduced to ashes in a farmer’s field yesterday, after a small group of mourners witnessed the lighting of Britain’s first open-air funeral pyre for 72 years. The 4,000-year-old Hindu ceremony, considered essential for the successful reincarnation of the soul, was held for a 31-year-old Indian man who was found drowned in a London canal last December. Rajpal Mehat’s grief-stricken mother and sister flew from India to attend the funeral in a clearing at a secret location in rural Northumberland. They wept inconsolably as his coffin, covered in a white cloth, was placed on the two-foot-high pyre, then covered with more wood to create a pyramid that was set alight with a blazing torch as a Brahmin priest led chanting. Flowers were thrown on to the wood, incense burnt from 36 holy herbs and water from the Ganges was sprinkled around the pyre from an earthenware pot before it was smashed to mark the release of the soul from the body. When the flames took hold, the pyre and the coffin burnt fiercely. The Times was the only national newspaper invited to the ceremony, which was planned in secret because Newcastle City Council has ruled that human pyres are unlawful.
Northumbria Police at first said that they were happy for the funeral to go ahead, but after further investigation said they believed that offences may have been committed. That was underlined by the Department of Constitutional Affairs. A spokesman said last night: “The plain fact is that any funeral pyre is illegal and to burn human remains in the open air is against the law. The 1930 Cremation Act prohibits the cremation of human remains anywhere except in a crematorium.” Mr. Mehat’s funeral was organized by a charity that is fighting to win recognition for the right of British Hindus and Sikhs to hold open-air funerals. It hopes that the day will set a precedent for thousands of future funerals to be held on open land at approved locations across the country. Britain is home to 490,000 Hindus and 310,000 Sikhs.