M A H A P R A S T H A N A M

A Hindu Crematorium
 “Never the spirit was born; the spirit shall cease to be never,
Never was time it was not; end and beginning are dreams;
Birthless and deathless and changeless remaineth the spirit for ever
Death hath not touched it at all, dead though the house of it seems.”
⦁ Sir Edwin Arnold, 1900

|Philosophy| In Hindu Philosophy of Ģta Life’s purpose is fulfilled when one goes through the 16 phases called Shodasha Samskara. Death in Hindu Philosophy is but a journey in search of perfection and eventual Moksha.
|Ritual| Antyeșṭi, the final stage of life is the funeral ritual. Divided into 5 major stages- preparation, cremation, mourning, purification and commemoration- the last rite is fulfilled.
|Concept| lamenting the lost, the built forms are shaped in such a way that; Pavilions embrace to console the loved ones, Waiting halls silently bow in honour, & Pyres open up to liberate the lost in a farewell.
|Symbol| Every step, every stone & every turn empathizes with the loss and lost as much as it was for the living and the life shared. It symbolizes the significance of love and loss as continuity.
|Form| The customized script casting onto the precast walls were assembled on site in a month. The cavumaedium forms with their angular tendencies behold the culture and concept. Wall surfaces are splash over texture finished adding the wrinkle of the wise to these lone standing structures. 
|Function| Due to building on an existing crematory, the open land pockets left a scattered layout to the built forms. This leaves an organic layout of spaces. a screen of stone posts and plants add further privacy to each pyre. 

|INITIATION| 
The client PHOENIX FOUNDATION with local Municipal Corporation undertook the task of accomplishing this state of the art crematorium from a neglected crematory. As an already existing 3.7 acre crematory/cemetery, the initiative was to build and accommodate the Hindu cremation rituals, culturally and contextually.