Till death do us part? Not in this Telangana village

What if life’s final chapter weren’t a lonely exit, but an entombed embrace of collective memories and kinship?In Mariyapuram village of Telangana’s Warangal district, about 170km from Hyderabad, a small community of Roman Catholics challenges the notion that we die alone.Here, beneath a single tombstone, six, seven, or even a dozen members of the community rest together. The symbolism of a shared final resting place is meant to transform death from an event signifying permanent isolation into one of eternal union.A stroll through Nirmala Hrudayavanamu cemetery reveals the uniqueness of this tradition, which dates back over 50 years.medium nocaption120310208Allam Chinnapada Reddy, who died in 1980, shares his grave with his wife Allam Shourilamma (1983), son Allam Rayapareddy (1986), daughter-in-law Allam Tekulamma (2020), granddaughter Allam Mariyarani (2008), and great grandson Praveen Reddy (2016).Roman Catholic families who constitute around half of the 240 households in the village religiously adhere to the system of burying their dead together. Some of the older graves in the cemetery hold up to 12 family members. Most of these graves go eight to 10 feet deep, with four to five vertical compartments.The arrangement follows a specific protocol: the first deceased member of a household is placed in the lowest block, with subsequent deaths within the family filling up the higher compartments.After decomposition occurs, the skeletal remains are clubbed with those in the bottom section, creating space for new burials.Villagers take pride in upholding the custom and find comfort in the feeling that after death, they would be physically reunited with departed family members in their final resting place.“Our cemetery consists of 80 graves that currently house more than 400 bodies. The tradition is as much about strengthening community bonding as it is about helping families overcome the grief of losing loved ones. In this village, sharing extends from the living to the dead,” for mer sarpanch Allam Balreddy told TOI.Each tombstone bears epitaphs for everyone buried there, including birthdays, the dates they passed away, and messages from family members.On occasions like All Souls’ Day on November 2, birth and death anniversaries, families religiously gather at the cemetery to place flowers on the graves, light lamps, and pray. 120300667How It StartedNearly nine decades ago, a group of Catholic farmers from Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur district relocated to Mariyapuram in search of the so-called greener pastures.They apparently prospered over time, and the village grew into a close-knit community with a distinctive way of life.During the 1970s, the village elders decided to designate a single burial ground for the community. This arrangement was intended to keep families “united in death”, while also ensuring efficient use of land resources.When someone dies, the upper chamber of the family’s designated common grave is opened after ceremonial prayers.The body, shrouded in white inside a coffin, is carefully placed in the uppermost section. The entire community oversees this process, ensuring adherence to traditional practices.“Decomposition of corpses occurs over a three to five-year period. Once a grave reaches its capacity of five bodies, family members take out the coffin, gather the skeletal remains and place these with the remnants at the bottom of the grave,” Balreddy said. 120300718Cost-Effective SystemBuilding a new grave typically costs over Rs 1 lakh, with materials accounting for the bulk of the expenses. “In contrast, using an existing grave costs barely Rs 1,000 since it only involves opening the top chamber, adding some material, and placing the box. We have established a system for convenient access whenever required,” said Gopu Lurdu Marreddy, a resident of Mariyapuram.The first member of Gopu’s family to be buried in the shared family grave was his grandfather in 1974. “Since then, we have buried nine more family members, most recently our brother’s son,” he told TOI. “Nobody in our community requests individual graves, as they are content with and accustomed to this practice. Family members who’ve relocated to places like Hyderabad also prefer to have their remains buried alongside their relatives in the family grave.” 120300769European PrecedentThe tradition of shared family graves, though uncommon in India, is known to be widely practised among Roman Catholics across Europe.Priest Annapureddy Raja Reddy from the local parish said he learned about this during seminars in Italy and France. “When I first came to this village as a priest in 2019, I was surprised to see Catholic families burying their dead in a common grave,” he recalled.The practice has been followed in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and France for centuries.“The villagers of Mariyapuram consider their family graves as assets, on a par with homes for the living,” Raja Reddy said.Archaeological research has revealed that shared family graves are far more than mere spatial arrangements for interment. In the early medieval context, studies in southern Germany showed that collective burials were adopted to conserve land and reinforce social identity and continuity.Photos: Suman Reddy D