Lexington residents aim for accessibility and equity in petition to build town crematory

Funerals come in all shapes and sizes. Some families prefer to cremate relatives and keep them in a decorative urn on their mantel. Some prefer to bury loved ones in their hometown so they can remain close to friends and family. 

In nearly every Massachusetts town, there is a cemetery and funeral home, so if you prefer to buy a plot of land, a casket, and a head stone locally, you could likely do so, albeit at a tall price. But in the Bay State, not all end-of-life services are accessible.

In many Indian cultures and religions such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism, witnessed cremations, where the family of a loved one is present while they’re cremated, is customary. But only a few crematories in Massachusetts offer that service, none of which are in Lexington. 

Making access to end-of-life services for Indian families more equitable is ultimately what Anil Ahuja and Sanjay Padaki, members of the town’s Appropriation Committee, seek to do with their citizen petition, which Town Meeting passed with 92 percent in support during its special session on Nov. 13. 

“This is an unmet need of our community which the town needs to take seriously, and not look at it just from a financial perspective, but from an emotional perspective, a rights perspective, a quality of living perspective, and and doing the right thing perspective,” Ahuja told LexObserver.

Ahuja and Padaki’s petition calls for Lexington to create a study group to research the need for a crematory at Westview Cemetery. They quickly garnered 288 signatures from residents in support of their cause.

In a discussion with LexObserver, Ahuja and Padaki explained that in many Indian cultures, until the body of a deceased family member is cremated, their family cannot light a flame, which means they can’t cook food. And the fire that cremates the body is to be lit by the deceased person’s oldest son.

Just as many people in American culture prefer to be buried in their hometowns or the towns they’ve lived in for the majority of their lives, many Indian residents would “like to have their last rites in the town that they have called home for decades,” Ahuja and Padaki’s presentation from Town Meeting’s special session states. 

“A crematory would meet a significant need within the South Asian community by allowing them to complete vital religious rites locally,” Jyoti Puri, a Lexington resident, said in support of Ahuja and Padaki’s petition during Town Meeting’s special session. “It would provide comfort and dignity to the deceased and their families, fostering a sense of belonging for immigrant families and their descendants.”

Performing those customs is difficult in not only Lexington, but across Massachusetts, Ahuja and Padaki explained, because the few local facilities that will perform the end-of-life custom are limited in how they’re able to do so. 

For example, Ahuja and Padaki said, many of the crematories that offer witnessed cremations in Massachusetts aren’t open on Sundays and only allow a few people to witness a cremation. If someone who practices Hinduism dies on a Saturday, their cremation will be delayed a whole day, which disconnects them from the Hindu belief that the soul should be released from the body as soon as possible after passing. 

Because of the inaccessibility to culturally appropriate end-of-life services nearby, many residents, including Ahuja and Padaki, have traveled to New Hampshire for services. Massachusetts’ northern neighbor has far more crematories that offer witnessed cremations, many of which are open seven days a week. They are often less expensive than facilities in the Bay State, and allow more people to witness the ritual. 

Ahuja and Padaki argued that the distance families must travel to have their loved one’s witnessed cremation performed further detaches them from their religious customs, which is not preferred during the uncomfortable time of mourning.

Puri argued that building a crematory in town would be an equitable decision during Town Meeting’s special session. The facility would “help anchor immigrant families more fully into the fabric of Lexington” and would “align with the town’s commitment to inclusivity and respect for diverse practices,” she said. 

While only 8 percent of Lexington residents are Indian, according to Ahuja, cremation services are increasingly popular across ethnic groups because they are less expensive than burials. 

The nation’s cremation rates are projected to increase significantly, reaching approximately 82 percent by 2045, while burial rates are expected to fall to nearly 13 percent, according to the National Funeral Director’s Association’s July 2024 report.

Lexington’s Select Board will begin discussing who will be on the research committee and what exactly they will research later this month. Ahuja and Padaki told LexObserver they “sincerely hope” the Select Board will reach out to them to ask who they think should be on the committee. 

“We just want our ​​end-of-life journey for ourselves and our family to be convenient,” Ahuja said.