Can't attend the funeral? Watch it online

Here's another Indian ritual that's moving online. Non-resident Gujaratis who can't make it to the funeral of a loved one back home will soon be able to watch the last rites on the Net.

To be built in Vadodara, the high-tech crematorium, called the Moksha Dham, will be funded by the Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited, a Reliance group company. The other undertakers are the Vadodara Municipal Corporation and the Rotary Club, which will operate the outfit initially.

To be operational be June 2005, the Moksha Dham will have equipment for the live webcast of cremations through a bandwidth connection provided by Reliance Infocomm. The relatives of the dead family member will also be able to send their condolence messages from their homes in the US, UK or Canada.

A memorandum of understanding will be signed shortly between the VMC, the Rotary Club and IPCL, which has agreed to contribute Rs 1 crore (Rs 150 million) for the project.

Architecture firm Karan Grover and Associates will design the crematorium, which will also house a prayer hall that can accommodate 1,000 people at a time.

The facilities would be offered to non-resident Gujaratis and their family members locally for a nominal fee, which would be decided later, said a VMC official.

Initially, there will be two high-capacity web cameras installed at the Moksha Dham. An exclusive webpage would be created through which those who have registered can connect to the Moksha Dham.

Family and friends of the dead person can avail of chat facilities too.

Perhaps it is in the fitness of things that this unique project is taking off in Gujarat. There are thousands of Gujaratis living abroad, who may face problems coming home to attend a funeral. For instance, flights may be booked solid, and it may be days after a bereavement in the family that people reach home. And sometimes there are circumstances where they may not be able to travel at all.

"The aim behind this unique project is to enable family members, relatives and friends of the dead person to be with their relatives virtually during their time of grief," said Jagdish Thakkar, project coordinator, on behalf of Rotary Club, Jawaharnagar.

Thakkar added: "The crematorium will be dedicated to the late Dhirubhai Ambani, the Reliance group founder. It will be a first of its kind facility in India and we are able to develop it because IPCL and Reliance Infocomm are offering us their unconditional financial and technical help," Thakkar told Business Standard.

The Rotary Club will operate the facility for five years from the date of commissioning and the VMC will be offered to run the place after that period if the club wants to opt out.

The Moksha Dham model is being planned for other cities in Gujarat, including Ahmedabad and Mehsana, which are NRI hubs.