Udaipur's woman 'purohit' performs last rites, weddings

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Sarla Gupta would leave home in her car every morning, carrying essentials required for performing last rites.

- Urvashi Dev Rawal

JAIPUR: During the Covid-19 pandemic, Sarla Gupta would leave home in her car every morning, carrying essentials required for performing last rites. She would go to crematoriums to conduct funerals for bodies lying unclaimed. Since the end of the pandemic, she has so far performed last rites of 70 people in Udaipur and nearby Chittorgarh, Fatehnagar and Mavli.

"There are five crematoriums in Udaipur. I would go to as many as I could manage and perform the last rites. I felt it was the least service I could do to help during the pandemic. Where we could identify the families of the deceased, we would call and tell them that the last rites had been conducted," she told HT.

She kept havan samagri (essentials for rituals), ghee, coconuts, utensils and other essentials required during funerals in her car. She said she never wore PPE kits but only a mask and gloves while performing the last rites.

Based in Udaipur, Gupta is a certified "purohit" by the Arya Samaj, officially recognised to conduct last rites at funerals and solemnise weddings. She is the only woman purohit in Udaipur who conducts last rites according to Vedic tradition.

The 64-year-old soft-spoken Gupta has in her own way broken a glass ceiling by stepping into a male-dominated profession.