[Exploring Spaces Supporting End Of Life Care w.r.t.

Belief
August 31, 2020 Systems In India]

Exploring spaces supporting end of life care w.r.t. belief systems in India

More than 20,000 ailing pilgrims visit Varanasi every year to breathe their last in the holy city. Being
cremated here, they believe, would break them free from the cycle of death and rebirth, hence helping
them attain Moksha. Hindus believe that the soul passes through a cycle of successive lives (samsara)
and its next incarnation is always dependent on how the previous life was lived (karma).Hindu scriptures
say that dying here and getting cremated along the banks of the holy Ganges river allows us to break the
cycle of rebirth and attain salvation. Benares (the home of Siva, Lord of destruction) is a preferred place
of death because it takes the pollution out of death and makes it a positive event. Anyone who dies here
breaks the cycle of life and achieves moksha (enlightenment or release).
It is important to remember that Hinduism is not only a religion but also a cultural way of life. Funeral
pyres burn incessantly at Manikarnika and Harishchandra ghats, the steps leading down to the river,
whose water, now grey from industrial and human waste, is believed to wash away the sins of even the
worst transgressors. As tourists and pilgrims row past the ghats in boats, priests and the families of the
deceased can be seen murmuring and chanting for the release of the dead person’s soul amid the thick
cloud of smoke emanating from the melting flesh.
Designated lodges, known as salvation homes, have been set up in the city, funded by charity
organisations and business groups to specifically cater to kashivasis, men and women who come to live –
and die – in Kashi. Mumukshu Bhawan is one of the oldest of these establishments, with 40 of its 116
rooms allotted to kashivasis. Only 12 are available at Moksha Bhawan. The two-storied hospice 'Kashi
Labh Mukti Bhawan' hosts the elderly who wish to spend their last days in the search for spiritual
liberation.

If someone doesn’t dies within 15 days, they are politely said to leave the place. All such salvation
homes are in poor condition still there is a long queue for getting a room in that also. Established by the
Dalmiya Charitable Trust in 1958, the Bhawan does not charge anything from the people who come here
for a purpose. But today there are only a few of such guesthouses left, due to a shift towards building
places designed to attract tourists rather than the dying, along with – some critics say – a dwindling
interest in religious matters. "Not only India, but devotees from England, Japan and Mauritius have
spent time in our shelter to understand the concept of Moksha, life and death," adds Shukla.

Since belonging from Varanasi, I have seen that it is very low amenities provided to such people who go
for cremation process, either talking of ghats or the route leading to ghat or the salvation homes, all lack
the architectural experience.

1 | Vaishali Pandey, MA20/19

 [Exploring Spaces Supporting End Of Life Care w.r.t. Belief
August 31, 2020 Systems In India]

So, I want to research that what kind of design for salvation homes will give a soothing experience to
users before their moksha. And the route followed for going to ghats is also not upto the mark. One
has to follow the same roads as general users. I want to propose a specific route and enrich its
experience through landscape design parameters , thus comforting the users.

Although Hospice Care is similar to Salvation Homes, but Salvation homes doesn’t provides medical
assistance. Hospice can be provided in any setting—home, nursing home, assisted living facility, or
inpatient hospital. Hospice has a homely ambience, and is designed to provide a lot of natural
light and contact with nature. With the many cosy, quiet spaces and comfortable furnishing, it
hopes to provide comfort and dignity for patients and loved ones and a life-affirming space.

2 | Vaishali Pandey, MA20/19

 [Exploring Spaces Supporting End Of Life Care w.r.t. Belief
August 31, 2020 Systems In India]

Administrative Rooms, Resident rooms, Resident Support Areas, Service requirements for nurse’s
stations, Temple, Healing gardens, noise reduction, usage of natural and artificial light, colors of built
form, therapy rooms can be the requirements considered for building Salvation Homes.

Euphoric experiences

But what could cause a euphoric experience during death, other than endorphins? As the body shuts
down, the brain is affected. It is possible that the way in which this happens somehow influences the
experiences we have at the moment of death. The American neuroanatomist Jill Bolte-Taylor has
described in a TED talk how she experienced euphoria and even “nirvana” during a near-death
experience in which her left brain hemisphere, which is the centre of logic and rational thought, shut
down following a stroke.

The dying process is sacred to Buddhists, who believe that the moment of death provides great potential
for the mind. They see the transition from living to dying as the most important event of your life – that
point when you carry Karma from this life into other lives.

That doesn’t mean that religious people generally have more joyful death experiences. People have
witnessed priests and nuns become extremely anxious as they approach death, perhaps consumed by
concerns about their moral record and the fear of judgement.

Ultimately, every death is different – and we can’t predict who is going to have a peaceful death.

Main Research Questions

 What kind of built environment can give relief to extremely sick people?

 What kind of route can give positivity to people who are carrying dead bodies on
their shoulders and taking it towards ghats?

3 | Vaishali Pandey, MA20/19

 [Exploring Spaces Supporting End Of Life Care w.r.t. Belief
August 31, 2020 Systems In India]

Topics –

 Developing Salvation Homes on the route to Ghat in Varanasi

 Revival of route to ghat and its segregation from daily users.

 Exploring spaces supporting end of life care w.r.t. belief systems in India.

Bibliography –

 Death and Life on the Varanasi Ghats, Amita Sinha

 Walking the faithscapes of Varanasi, India. Pilgrimage of the Panchkroshi Yatra. By

Saloni Chawla

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190617-indias-city-where-people-come-to-die

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/search-for-salvation-in-varanasi-
establishments-offer-moksha-seekers-a-place-to-await-death/story-
8yyZ5jHRWZwHRRNxlVIiAO.html

https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-are-palliative-care-and-hospice-care

https://www.thehastingscenter.org/pdf/access_hospice_care.pdf

http://ir.knust.edu.gh/bitstream/123456789/351/1/fulltxt.pdf

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/in-the-city-of-kashi-
moksha-is-everything/articleshow/35942993.cms?from=mdr

4 | Vaishali Pandey, MA20/19