Christians bury their dead usually but some do cremate also, this is becoming a very common occurrence in the west where the Christian population is high and the burial grounds are limited. The bodies are cremated in a crematorium and the ashes are collected in an urn which is in turn buried in a small plot. Some also keep the ashes in a decorated urn in their house.
In Kolkata the British had arranged for a construction of a crematorium just beside Lower Circular Road Cemetery so that in the event some wanted a cremation it can be arranged. This was also done in the event a British family wanted their loved ones last resting place to be back in Britain rather than being buried in India.
Location of Christian Crematorium
This was also done so that the recent native converts who had accepted Christianity but wanted a cremation, in this case they did not have to go to the open wood fired cremation grounds next to the Hoogly River but could do in a more convenient environment next to a Christian cemetery.
History of the Christian Gas crematorium
This crematorium was built in the year 1906 and was built by a French company named Toisoul Fradet & Co. based in Paris. This company specialised in crematoriums and have had installed several across the world Paris, Marseille, Bradford & Dessau. In Paris they had installed the Type 1 Crematorium and in the rest including the one built in Calcutta was the Type 2 model.
This crematorium was gas powered and functioned till the 1980’s but due to erratic gas supply the service was stopped. This crematorium was also used by the Brahmo Samaj community and notable personalise like Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose was cremated here.
All information’s about Toisoul Fradet & Co. courtesy internet.org