Mahaprasthanam Hindu Crematorium by DA Studios in Hyderabad

Project Name: Mahaprasthanam
Category: Hindu Crematorium
Location: Hyderabad
Design Firm: DA Studios, Hyderabad
Principal Architect (s): Dommu Chaitanya, Ikkurthy Pradeepthi, Alluri Raju

Plot Area: 3.7 acres
Built-up Area: 1,000 sq.mt
Project Cost: INR 3.5 crores
Timeline: 45 Days

Design Architecture Studios, under commission from the Phoenix foundation, modernized a neglected cemetery and crematorium in India. The site was approached with the intent to build infrastructure to accommodate Hindu rituals both culturally and contextually. In the philosophy of Gita, life’s purpose is fulfilled in a 16 phase process called Shodasha Samskara. The final stage is Moksha, in which the individual reaches a state of karmic perfection, and is released from the cycle of life.
Antyeșṭi, the final stage of life, is the funeral which is subdivided into five sequential parts: preparation, cremation, mourning, purification, and commemoration.
‘Mahaprasthanam’, follows this order in a series of structures that both mourn and celebrate the individual. Each symbolizes the significance of love and of loss, and reiterates the fact that death is a natural, unavoidable consequence of the continuity of life.