The women conduct every part of the funeral from carrying the body to digging burial pits
The 50-year-old is part of the women’s wing of the Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam (DVK), a social justice organisation based in Salem, which conducts funerals to challenge patriarchal traditions that reserve death rituals for men, assert equal rights, and dismantle caste-based and religious superstitions surrounding death. “Dravidar Kazhagam started a movement like this in 1980, where women took charge of funerals in Trichy. We started this initiative in Salem in 2010 and have taken it to other districts.
“Periyar believed women had the same rights as men,” says Saraswathi. “We don’t follow any superstitions or religious rituals,” says Saraswathi. “There are no flowers, lamps, camphor, burning cow dung cakes, coins placed on the forehead of the deceased or pictures of gods. ” The act, she says, goes beyond performing funeral duties. Sudha O, head of the organisation in Salem, says her father hasn’t spoken to her in years. “Sometimes, he talks to my children, never to me,” she says. We conduct funerals of people in the village irrespective of caste and bury or cremate them as per their families’ wishes,” says Jothimani. “When we enter a house we never consider the caste or religion of its residents. ” Sudha adds that the women’s wing also approaches schools and colleges, and conducts talks in community halls and public spaces in towns and villages.
The collective is inspired by the ideals of rationalist leader Periyar E V Ramasamy that women should have an equal role in honouring the dead, regardless of gender, caste or religion. When a family needs help, the women members arrive at the house, dressed in black sarees, carry the body to the burial ground, chant tributes (such as veera vanakkam or salute to the brave), lower the bodies into the grave and throw soil on the body themselves. It challenges customs that restrict women’s participation in death rituals. But it comes with a heavy cost. A religious man, he refuses to accept the work she does. “But I find purpose in my work, so I go on, and boldly so. Patriarchy isn’t the only barrier they are fighting against. “We want people to shed rites based on caste. For instance, one ritual dictates in which direction a body is placed in the house depending on caste. “Many women and college students are joining the initiative. Some return to their villages and start such services.”