Eco-friendly Traditional Hindu Funeral Pyre by Mokshada

Mokshada system is an eco-friendly way of performing the last rite keeping intact all the beliefs of Hinduism. This funeral method involves minimal use of wood while keeping the age-old Hindu tradition of burning wooden pyres intact. Vinod Agrawal, an engineer from Uttarakhand, is behind the Mokshada system which is functional in Mumbai and Dehradun.

Times of India reports

"We have tried to create a balance with simple technique that allows full combustion of dead body with minimal loss of heat and thus save up to 75 per cent of wood that is usually lost in the process when performed in traditional style," said Vinod Agrawal, an engineer from Uttarakhand region and mastermind who conceptualized the idea (nearly two decades ago) while talking to TOI on Sunday.

Saying that the technique did not involve electricity as it could hurt the sentiment and devotion of Hindu family, he emphasized that it also used wood in small quantity (around 25 per cent of what is required for burning dead bodies via the traditional method). The wood was kept in perforated chamber with chimney facility to allow full combustion of the dead body. It even saved the time and money and relatives and closed ones of the deceased could also watch the entire process through the perforated chamber that was open from one side, he added.

Proposals for setting up of as many as 15 Mokshada systems at Manikarnika and Harishchandra ghats in Varanasi, believed to be two of the most sacred and revered ghats for performing the last rite functions, were already in the pipeline.

How Mokshada is planning to do Eco-friendly Pyre?

In the traditional method, about 400 kg of fuel wood is used per cremation. Literature search on this subject and an energy audit revealed that only 22 Kg of fuel wood is actually needed to cremate an average size body. It was thus concluded that over 90% of the heat from fuel wood is wasted due to improper combustion. Therefore, the thrust was on minimizing the wastage of heat to the extent possible through a scientific design.

Find more about the benefits of nature friendly pyre here at the official website of Mokshada.