Have you ever noticed that most of the seven wonders have some connection to the dead and hence to the graves? The pyramids of Egypt and our very own Taj Mahal are all about remembering the departed. "With all these important structures, can you deny that cemeteries play an important role in our lives?" asks Hari Bhagirath, one of whose favourite hobbies is to collect photographs of various cemeteries from around the world.
"There is a poetic beauty attached to every grave, every cemetery," he says, explaining why the cemetery in Hosur, Bengaluru is the place where he finds peace in the ever chaotic and traffic-packed streets of the city.
"I have shot cemeteries from around the world but there is something about the city. I think the cemeteries express a complete contrast to what the city is. And that makes it beautiful," says Hari, who has shot Dutch and British cemeteries in Kochi and Bengaluru among several others.
Talking about the connection between cemeteries and photography, Hari says that a cemetery is a full package for anyone who likes photography. "There is history, there is architecture. You have the correct texture and you also have the whole place to yourself. What more does a photographer desire?" he asks cheekily, as he throws yet another question that satiates our doubts. But not all of them.
Hari is well aware of the stigma attached to visiting graveyards and cemeteries. He also knows that they are looked at as places to be scared of rather than places where one can find peace. But when these doubts cloud his thoughts, he remembers a lesson that his photography teacher taught him in 2011.
"I remember my teacher telling me that only those who are alive can harm the living. I believe in it and I have spent loads of time in a cemetery and have never felt any negative energy. All we need to do it respect the place and what it is about," he says.
However, he admits that photography in a cemetery is not very popular in India and has a long way to go. That's one of the reasons that he doesn't do it for the money.
"India is a sensitive country. People need to open up and be flexible about their religion before such things can happen without risking anyone's life," says Hari, who doesn't like to restrict his art form by calling himself a taphophile — a term used to describe people who like to spend time in cemeteries.
These individuals might be taphophiles either for the love of research, curiosity or merely in the virtue of finding peace. If you fall into the last category, you will enjoy the peace there. And if you are into research, you might find graves of famous people around the world that even your textbooks could never teach you about.
