COIMBATORE: Relatives and others initially mocked him, calling him ‘Vettiyan’ (gravedigger). But S Kanthavelan never let the taunts deter him. He, in fact, wears the moniker with pride. For over 25 years, Kanthavelan has performed the last rites of more than 1,800 victims of road and train accidents, whose bodies were not claimed, destitute patients and elderly people abandoned by their families. He has buried 35 people who died of HIV-related illnesses and more than 90 abandoned infants. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he did the last rites for 375 people.




“I see it as my calling,” says the 51-year-old who heads the Singanallur-based Aathma Charitable Trust .




The turning point, he says, came in 2001. At the time, Kanthavelan was engaged in temple renovation work near Aravaan Medu along the Singanallur–Vellalore Road, where homeless people often slept. One afternoon, he heard of an elderly man who had died near where he was working.




“Police arrived, and they asked us to help. We took the body to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. Even after two days, nobody came forward to claim the body. That was when I realised how distressing the final days of the destitute or abandoned can be,” says Kanthavelan. With the help of friends, he took the body to the Singanallur cremation ground, performed the last rites and buried the man. It was the first of many such burials.




“We started Aathma Charitable Trust the following year. My mother helped me to sell a property to fund the trust work,” he says.




Kanthavelan, whose father died when he was five, says he grew up watching his mother raise four children on a school sweeper’s income. “I had to drop out after Class 10 to work,” says Kanthavelan. “I eventually set up a fabrication unit. I used those earnings to perform free burials.”




Along with friends Ramesh, Manikandan and Nandagopal, Kanthavelan began handling everything from securing post-mortem clearances and bathing bodies to digging graves. As burial costs rose from Rs 1,300 to Rs 2,500, they took on more of the physical work themselves, saving around Rs 1,000 per burial. He also refuses the state govt’s Rs 1,000 burial assistance.




He says many of those who die without anyone to claim their bodies are from outside Coimbatore. “They may have come here for work or treatment and end up dying alone. There have been days when police call us several times. In 2008, we buried 22 bodies in one day,” says Kanthavelan.




Now running a sock manufacturing unit, Kanthavelan also manages three municipal cremation grounds and has sheltered 350 destitute elders. He adds that he takes his 18-year-old daughter along when he conducts the last rites, hoping to instil in her the same sense of compassion that drives his work.



Kovai Heroes is a city-wide recognition initiative by The Times of India, presented by Infinium developers to identify, celebrate and honour individuals who are making a positive impact in Coimbatore through their work, service, innovation, leadership or acts of kindness. Education Partner: SSVM Institutions. Associate Partner: Lakshmi Ceramics