Now, fresh garments for the poor to replace floral wreaths during cremation in Kerala

The trend has its origin in the St Mary's Church at Kolengattukara

wreath Representational image

If you happen to see a corpse being surrounded by new sarees, dhotis or even bedsheets, instead of the usual floral wreaths as is the custom in India, one should not be surprised. Be happy that you are amid a bunch of socially responsible human beings.

A new philanthropic trend is catching up in Kerala, where one pays respect to the dead not by offering floral wreaths, but by offering new dresses which will be redistributed among the poor later. The trend has its origin in St Mary's Church at Kolengattukara in Thrissur district, where all recent deaths and even death anniversaries are being observed in this manner.

"We offer floral wreaths to the dead as an act of respect to them. But, after the function, those wreaths get wasted. If you offer something which can be used later, that would be of some help to others and it would be a blessing to the departed soul," said Francis Alappat, vicar of St Mary's Church.

He shared this idea in a Sunday sermon last month and asked the laymen to return with their opinion on it. "I was happy to know that everyone in my church approved the idea and the decision was made official then itself," said the priest, who is also a practising physician.

The parish has around 250 families.

"We did have apprehensions when Father suggested this for the first time. But, when he explained the rationale, we all were for it," said Babu N.S., a member of the parish. "When famous and rich people die, lakhs worth of floral wreaths get wasted. So, if we can use that amount to help the poor, it would be a much better thing to do," said Babu.

Francis George, a student in the parish, also felt the same. "I had never heard of replacing floral bouquets with new clothes. But, I must say it was such a brilliant idea," he said.

Alappat, however, admits that the idea is not originally his. "When former Thrissur archbishop Joseph Kundukulam died, I saw people offering new dresses instead of floral wreaths as desired by the bishop. Though the practice was not continued, it somehow stuck to my mind," he said.

Though the decision was to replace floral wreaths with new clothes only during cremation, the people in the parish have now extended it to death anniversary functions as well. According to the priest, the church now has a good collection of new sarees, shirts, dhotis and even bed sheets. They have decided to offer it to the Government Old Age Home during the Onam celebrations.

"The social part of religious life is often forgotten these days. These small acts give us an opportunity to be socially committed citizens," said Fr Francis.

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