Our Funeral Service

As time goes by, some families are choosing not to take their loved ones back to India and are instead opting to scatter the ashes at riverbanks here in the UK. There are various locations in the UK where you are able to spread the ashes of your loved one.

It is customary for Hindus and Sikhs to inter the ashes of their loved ones into running water. Traditionally, Hindus would return their dead to the banks of the River Ganges in places such as Haridwar or Varanasi.

Sikhs, on the other hand, would traditionally take the ashes of their loved ones to Kiratpur Sahib, where the River Sutlej runs through.

Here at the Indian Funeral Company, we can arrange for the ashes to be repatriated back to India and taken to your place of choice to be interred into either the Ganges or Sutlej. We maintain an important relationship with the Purohits at Haridwar and Pehowa for the other rituals, which include registration of death in the ancestral registers tracing back family lineages for hundreds of years.

Pt. Kundan Lal Shambu Dutt Tiwari, Purohit of Pehowa Tirath, explains that the ancient city of Pehowa holds a high importance as a religious site with deep historical roots. With its ancient legends from the Mahabharata era, Pehowa is regarded as an important pilgrimage for Hindus.

Gurdwara Patalpuri Sahib at Kiratpur Sahib is considered a sacred place where many Sikhs immerse the ashes of their departed. Significantly, it was here that the ashes of Guru Hargobind Ji and Guru Har Rai were cremated and the ashes of Guru Harkrishan Ji were immersed.

With the passage of time, increasingly more families are choosing to scatter the ashes of their loved ones at riverbanks in the UK. The Environment Agency's guidelines permit the scattering of ashes at sea or on a river without prior permission, provided that the landowner's permission is obtained in other areas.

Many families visit Pehowa after interring the ashes at Haridwar to conduct the ritual of pind daan and offer necessary items believed by Hindus to aid the deceased in their afterlife. At the Saraswati Sarovar in Pehowa, water is also offered to the Peepal tree—a ritual some families abstain from performing on a Sunday.