Trivikrama Mahadeva () (29 September 1962 – 14 July 2022) is the name of an

undertaker A funeral director, also known as an undertaker or mortician (American English), is a professional who has licenses in funeral arranging and embalming (or preparation of the deceased) involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks o ...

in the city of

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

who ferries unclaimed bodies and organizes their funeral. He has so far organized funeral of over 88,888 human bodies.Mahadeva being awarded for his service in organizing funeral for many bodies is mentioned by In November 1999, he was awarded the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

's Gold Medal by the Chief Minister of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, S. M. Krishna.A biography of Mahadeva is presented by

Early life

Mahadeva was born in a village near the town of

Nanjangud Nanjangud, officially known as Nanjanagudu, is a town in the Mysuru district of the Indian state of Karnataka. Nanjangud lies on the banks of the river Kapila (also called Kabini), 23 km from the city of Mysore. Nanjangud is famous for the ...

in the Mysore district of

.A narrative by Mahadeva is published by His mother left her home village, taking her young son with her, following an unknown insult when Mahadeva was about 4. When he was about 7 and living in the town of

Chamarajanagar Chamarajanagara is a city and headquarter of eponymous Chamarajanagar district in the Karnataka state of India. It is named after Chamaraja Wodeyar IX, the erstwhile Raja of Mysore, Chamarajanagara was previously known as 'Arikottara'. Hist ...

, his mother fell seriously ill and the doctors suggested that she should be admitted to a hospital in

, a journey which took four years and was financed by selling bits of Mahadeva's mother's jewelry. Once in Bangalore, the pair spent some days outside of Victoria Hospital, not knowing the procedure to get admitted until they elicited the help of a ward orderly by giving him the rest of the jewelry. The medical attention, however, proved insufficient and Mahadeva's mother died soon after being admitted, a fact which only became known to Mahadeva two weeks later. After waiting the customary 3 days for someone to claim the body, the hospital undertaker had buried Mahadeva's mother's body. Since Mahadeva had lost his mother, the people around raised about Rs. 12 to send him back to his village. But Mahadeva refused to go back and instead decided to stay with the undertaker. Mahadeva fondly started to call the man ''Thatha'' (which means grandpa in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

), a relationship which led him to his present career. By the age of 12, Mahadeva had started to ferry 3 or 4 bodies at a time on a cart to the burial ground on Mysore Road. When he decided to marry a girl named Pushpalatha, his future father-in-law demanded Rs. 2000 as bride money, which was a huge sum for Mahadeva to raise but after saving money and with the help of well-wishers he collected the required sum and married Pushpalatha.

Career

Mahadeva had buried around a thousand bodies when he had to bury his ''Thatha''. After facing this personal loss, Mahadeva took it upon himself to garland each body he buried and accord whatever respect that he could to the deceased. Although he was paid Rs. 200 for each body, he earned only Rs. 25 per body after covering all expenses required for burial. All the bodies he buried had to be autopsied, certified and buried properly. He had a horse-driven cart that helped him in ferrying bodies, and he operated in relative obscurity until the

magazine ''Sudha'' discovered him and published a story about his life. He was also the subject of a television documentary. This exposure lead to him being awarded the title of '' Kaliyuga Trivikrama'', making his proper name ''Trivikrama'' Mahadeva. In 1982, while burying the remains of people who had died when the Gangaram's building crashed in

, he slipped and fell into the grave and was covered by a heap of bodies. He was rescued when he managed to draw the attention of the undertaker, who pulled Mahadeva from the bodies. In 1991, he was selected to ferry the body of Sivarasan, one of the people responsible for planning the assassination of the former Indian

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian statesman and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the Assassination of Indira Gandhi, assassination of his mother, then–prime ...

. Sivarasan was killed in police firing in a house in Konanakunte, a suburb of

. The police wanted to cremate Sivarasan's body in complete secrecy and selected Mahadeva for the job. Mahadeva's horse-driven cart was escorted with 2 police jeeps and the body was cremated in an electric crematorium.

Death

Mahadeva lived in poverty and was even forced to sell his horse and cart as well as his

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

to raise money to pay off some debts. At one point, the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

donated him Rs. 25000 to buy a three-wheeled vehicle. The

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

have also provided him with a

cell phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radio ...

and well-wishers have provide him with free petrol. His son Praveen used to accompany him to the burials during weekends and vacations. Mahadeva, who suffered from stage three lung cancer, died on 14 July 2022 at the age of 60.

Awards and honours

Mahadeva has been awarded the following honours: *

's Gold Medal in the year 1999 *

Kempe Gowda Kempe Gowda I (27 June 1510 – 1569) locally venerated as Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda, or commonly known as Kempe Gowda, was a governor under the Vijayanagara Empire in early-modern India. He is famous for the development of Bengaluru Pete in th ...

award in the year 2004 * Godfrey Phillips Bravery Award for Social Acts of Courage in the year 2006

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahadeva, Trivikrama Businesspeople from Karnataka People from Mysore district