Lions Club dotes modern funeral pyre to Silchar Shasan Ghat

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT  

Silchar, July 9: The Lions Club Silchar Central in a bid to reduce environmental pollution doted a modern funeral pyre to the civic authorities in the premises of Silchar Shasan Ghat (burning) on Wednesday. The estimated cost for the project is Rs 18 lakh. The project also upgraded the washroom, drinking water and draige facilities of the ghat. The construction work began in the month of December last year and the work was completed on June, 2015. The modern pyre was iugurated by Niharendra rayan Thakur, SMB chairman, and Sangeeta Jatia, past president of Lions Club Intertiol.

Speaking on the occasion, Swami Shadhandaji Maharaj, Northeast in-charge, Bharat Seva Asharama Sangha said, “shasan ghat is the last journey of a mortal in one’s lifetime before the soul merges with the almighty. A dead adult Hindu is mourned with a cremation, while a dead child is typically buried. The rite of passage is performed in harmony with the Hindu religious view that the microcosm of all living beings is a reflection of a macrocosm of the universe.”

Maharaj also said, “The soul, Atman,   is the essence and immortal that is released at the Antyeshti ritual, but both the body and the universe are vehicles and transitory in various schools of Hinduism. They consist of five elements - air, water, fire, earth and space. The last rite of passage returns the body to the five elements and origins. The roots of this belief are found in the Vedas, for example in the hymns of Rigveda in section 10.16.”

He further said the authorities concerned should make certain that the sanctity of the shashan ghat is maintained. SMB Chairman Niharendra rayan Thakur thanked the members of Lions Club Silchar Central for this noble gesture. Kabindra Purkayastha, former MP, Dilip Kumar Paul, MLA Silchar, Pradip Banik, project chairman, Anshu Kumar Roy, president, Lions Club Silchar Central were among those present on the occasion.