Catholic church in Kerala allows casketless burials

For the first time in Kerala, a Catholic church has abandoned the long tradition of burying the dead in casket, instead opting for lowering the dead into the tomb wrapped in plain linen cloth. The new practice of burial was introduced at St George Church, Arthunkal, in Alappuzha district.

Parish priest Fr Johnson Thaundiyil said the decision to do away with the use of casket for burial was taken after a detailed discussion at the church as well as among the public.

“In our coastal area, the amount of salinity in soil is very high. This leads to delay in decomposition of the bodies in wooden caskets. Even bodies buried five years back had been found not fully decomposed. Hence, we decided to avoid the coffin, which would speed up the process of decomposition,’’ he said.