Ritual Home in City Renovated

CHENNAI: In one of the many rooms at a two-storeyed building in T Nagar,  clad in the traditional veshti and madisaar, a husband and wife in their fifties perform the final rites for a dear one they lost. Alongside, are other grieving families paying their last respects to their deceased relatives at Gnanavapi a building dedicated to Hindus who wish to perform the rituals without compromising on the traditional practices.

This building at T Nagar is one of the branches of the Gnanavapi post cremation homes. Started by the religious trust Sri Rama Samaj in 1982,  the building was rendered unusable during the monsoons and remained dilapidated for two years. In May, this year, the building was finally renovated and put to use again.

“T Nagar and Mambalam being two of the main areas, we used to have many people approaching us,” S Ravichandran president of Sri Rama Samaj recalls the struggle.“Before this, the  building was low lying, old and dilapidated; it couldn’t withstand heavy rains. The rooms became flooded. So, we decided to completely demolish the old setup and construct another building with better infrastructure,” said S Ravichandran president of Sri Rama Samaj.

In its new avatar, the building has separate rooms, material needed to perform the rituals and an infrastructure that is conducive to senior citizens. “As part of the Rs 3.5 crore project, we have incorporated special customisation for senior citizens to be able perform the rites comfortably,” Ravichandran said. 

http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/Ritual-Home-in-City-Renovated/2014/11/12/article2518602.ece 

Sri Ram Samaj

Gnanavapi Unit of Sri Ram Samaj,
New No: 59 / Old No: 12 Muthurangan Salai,
T.Nagar, Chennai - 600 017.
Phone :044 - 2345 1602 / 03

Email : sriramsamaj@ymail.com
Website :wwww.sriramsamaj.com