Culture Specific and Culture Sensitive End-of-Life Care A Case Study Based on Kashi Labh Mukti Bhawan, Banaras by Dr. Umesh K. Singh Lecturer, Dept. of Sociology V.S.S.D. College, Kanpur umeshka@gmail.com | umesh.singh@live.in | Blog: sociocrat.blogspot.com
Culture shapes the belief system The fears, hopes, and orientations people have towards “Death” are not instinctive, but rather are learned from cultural symbols umeshka@gmail.com | umesh.singh@live.in | Blog: sociocrat.blogspot.com
Death is not simply end of life in biological sense. It is only a stage in the larger cycle of procreation – regeneration The ultimate goal of human being is to attain mukti or moksha Along with good deeds, there are sacred rituals and sacred spaces which too can contribute to liberation umeshka@gmail.com | umesh.singh@live.in | Blog: sociocrat.blogspot.com
Kashi: antiquity, religious symbol and sacred space mukti dayani/moksha dayani Kashi Age old association of Kashi with old age and dying and death umeshka@gmail.com | umesh.singh@live.in | Blog: sociocrat.blogspot.com
To illustrate the cultural distinctiveness of death and end-of-life care: exploration of the role of Kashi Labh Mukti Bhawan — nature of services and facilities available kinds of inmates availing the services — their life-situation and life-values fulfillment of religious and psychosocial needs and satisfaction received umeshka@gmail.com | umesh.singh@live.in | Blog: sociocrat.blogspot.com
a distinctive organization, established in 1958 old aged people are brought at the very fag end of their life to attain the religious benefits of dying in Kashi caters mostly to the lower middle class and lower class old aged persons belonging mostly to the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh and adjoining areas of Bihar umeshka@gmail.com | umesh.singh@live.in | Blog: sociocrat.blogspot.com
varied socio-economic background and personal history on the verge of death because of their sickness or simply because of becoming very old brought by their family and close relatives heterogeneous categories of inmates, however, sharing the same destiny umeshka@gmail.com | umesh.singh@live.in | Blog: sociocrat.blogspot.com
the physical facilities available to the dying old person in the room are minimum it is the close relatives attending him who control the dying person life-values and behaviour pattern: he is left with very hazy notion of these and he can neither articulate nor perform any of these the attendants often remind him of remembering the names of gods/goddesses or help him in performing some basic pre-death rituals umeshka@gmail.com | umesh.singh@live.in | Blog: sociocrat.blogspot.com
common ideology of death and dying in Kashi most of the inmates of are there because of their personal wish or else their family thought it better to take the dying one to Kashi and to perform the cremation here the family also wishes to facilitate salvation of the departed soul by availing death in Kashi umeshka@gmail.com | umesh.singh@live.in | Blog: sociocrat.blogspot.com
The Hindu society does not leave the dead person all alone but by observing many death sacraments such as pinda-dan, shraddh, etc. to the deceased person leads to formation of close bonds between the dead and the descendents. Institutions like Kashi Labh Mukti Bhawan uphold these religious and cultural traditions. umeshka@gmail.com | umesh.singh@live.in | Blog: sociocrat.blogspot.com
The individual accepts the inevitability of death and in spite of all the trauma and pains of preceding death, gets ready for a newer existence/life. The family accepts the passing away of the old aged and facilitates the process by keeping the dying persons in Kashi Labh Mukti Bhawan accompanying all the pre-death and post-death rituals and ceremonies. The religious symbols on the one hand lessen the grief of the family members and on the other hand it facilitates the salvation of the dead one. This cultural specificity relating to death is deeply ingrained in Hindu psyche and differentiates it from other cultural systems of the world. umeshka@gmail.com | umesh.singh@live.in | Blog: sociocrat.blogspot.com
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