Two Muslim burial grounds have old graves of Hindus
PRAYAGRAJ: The city of Prayagraj has two Muslim graveyards with many graves of Hindus dating back to several years ago.
Although Hindus do not usually bury their dead, the practice is followed by adherents of the faith in certain circumstances wherein they lay the departed to rest on riverbanks near cremation ghats,
Known as the Kaladanda graveyards, the two Muslim burial grounds are situated in the Himmatganj and Kareli localities of the city. The graves bear the names of the departed and have other details engraved on the tombstones.
Although Hindus no longer bury their dead at these two graveyards, many of their graves are still intact, the graveyard authorities say.
A visit to the graveyard at Himmatganj reveals that many tombstones bear Hindu names such as Mewalal, Om Prakash, Sukkha Panda, Lalu Prasad, Shivnath Nagvanshi, Shivkali Devi and many others. The graves are in a corner of the large burial ground. Many of them came up in the years 2003, 2004 and 2005.
However, a gravedigger says there were many other older graves of Hindus earlier, which do not exist now.
Kaladanda graveyard committee chairman Mohd Javed says there are many graves or “samadhis” of a Hindu sect at both the graveyards in Himmatganj and Kareli which displays the composite culture of Prayagraj (earlier known as Allahabad). Many old graves, including the tomb of singer Janki Bai aka Chhapan Chhuri, still exist and are preserved by Qabristan Committee as symbols of heritage.
Recently, Akhil Bhartiya Akhada Parishad (ABAP) chairman Swami Narendra Giri also confirmed that there was a tradition of burying bodies among Hindus in certain circumstances.
Eagle symbol
Besides other graves at Himmatganj, one with an eagle symbol attracts the attention of visitors. It is the grave of Indonesian air cadet Suryadi Thirtodhiatmo who died in a plane crash in the city on May 26, 1949.
Subrati, a worker at the graveyard, said that his grandfather who dug that grave had told him that the Indonesian pilot and his British trainer were both killed in the plane crash. The British trainer was buried at the Christian cemetery at Rajapur here. The family members of the Indonesian air cadet visited the graves for some years but then stopped coming here.