Four-storey cemetery inaugurated at Nalanchira

Thiruvananthapuram: For years, members of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian community in Thiruvananthapuram struggled to find burial space in an increasingly congested city. As traditional cemeteries reached capacity, many families were forced to seek burial grounds outside the city limits.To address this, the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church has established a four-storey cemetery complex at Mar Ivanios Nagar in Nalanchira, offering a sustainable solution to the shortage of burial space in urban areas.Built on just 11 cents of land donated by Moran Mor Baselios Cardinal Cleemis, catholicos and major archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, the facility houses 460 burial vaults. The complex also features a chapel with seating for 500 people, an elevator and round-the-clock caretaker services. Completed at a cost of approximately Rs 3 crore, it falls under the Thiruvananthapuram-Kollam Diocese of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church.The project was overseen by an eight-member managing committee chaired by Rt Rev Dr Isaac Mar Philoxenos Episcopa. Kuncheria P Isaac, former vice-chancellor of Kerala Technological University and the driving force behind the initiative, said the project was conceived to address the difficulties community members faced in securing burial space within the city.“For many years, families encountered significant challenges in finding burial grounds in urban areas where land is extremely limited. Many had to travel long distances for burials. Our objective was to create a permanent solution within the city while ensuring optimal use of available land,” he said.The cemetery’s vertical design enables hundreds of burials within a compact footprint, a practical alternative to conventional cemeteries that require substantially larger land areas. Church officials said the project emerged after years of discussions within the diocese on the need for a dedicated urban cemetery.Rev Shibu O Plavila, project secretary, described it as the realisation of a long-held community aspiration. While burial vaults can be reserved by families upon payment of the prescribed fee, the church has also committed to providing burial facilities for economically disadvantaged members.