Pilerne family opts for shroud burial, ‘no tree cut for goodbye’

Panaji: An environmentally conscious family in Pilerne broke with centuries-old tradition on Monday when they shunned a coffin burial for a shroud burial for their family member, Antonia D’Souza.

D’Souza, who died six months short of her 100th birthday, was buried at the cemetery of St John the Baptist Church, Pilerne, without a coffin. Though the family had arranged a coffin to carry her body to the cemetery, they lowered her into the grave wrapped only in cloth.

“Mama was very environmentally conscious. She often joined us on our morchas, dharnas and candlelight vigils to save the environment, Goa and the planet. As a tribute to her and her environmental legacy, we are sending mama’s body back to mama earth without cutting a tree. She’ll be going home to the earth in a simple, cotton bit of white cloth ... a shroud!” the family said in a message shared before the funeral.

“The coffin that carried her body was a common one, could later be used by someone else, or better still by many others who will be inspired by her shroud burial!” they added.

Speaking to TOI, the family said it was a first-time experience for not only their family but for their parish and undertaker too. “Mama was very pro-environment and pro-planet. She would manage her own kitchen garden when she was younger and participated in several protests against environmental destruction,” the family told TOI.

Businessman and nature lover Ashley Delaney, who has assisted in three such burials over the past five years, said it is a simple, dignified and eco-friendly practice.