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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}
'''Trivikrama Mahadeva''' ({{lang-kn|ತ್ರಿವಿಕ್ರಮ ಮಹಾದೇವ}}) is the name of an [[undertaker]] in the city of [[Bangalore]], [[India]] who ferries unclaimed bodies and organizes their funeral. He has so far organized funeral of over 88,888 human bodies.<ref name="award">Mahadeva being awarded for his service in organizing funeral for many bodies is mentioned by {{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/04/06/stories/2006040601740200.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001001441/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/04/06/stories/2006040601740200.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-10-01|title= Local heroes|accessdate=2007-05-28|location=Chennai, India|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=2006-04-06}}</ref> In November 1999, he was awarded the [[List of Chief Ministers of Karnataka|Chief Minister]]'s Gold Medal by the Chief Minister of [[Karnataka]], [[S. M. Krishna]].<ref name="bio">A biography of Mahadeva is presented by {{cite web|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/mad.asp?fname=making_a_difference.htm&subsubsec=Bangalore&synopsis=Dignity+to+dead&fodname=20001225&personname=Adigewadayera+Halli|title=He's A Living Mythological Figure—The Bearer Of Unclaimed Bodies|author=B. R. Srikanth|work=Online edition of the Outlook, dated 2000-12-25|publisher=© Outlook Publishing (India) Private Limited|accessdate=2007-05-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050526044325/http://www.outlookindia.com/mad.asp?fname=making%5Fa%5Fdifference%2Ehtm&subsubsec=Bangalore&synopsis=Dignity+to+dead&fodname=20001225&personname=Adigewadayera+Halli|archive-date=2005-05-26|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Early life==
Mahadeva was born in a village near the town of [[Nanjangud]] in the [[Mysore district]] of [[Karnataka]].<ref name="narr">A narrative by Mahadeva is published by {{cite web|url=http://www.goodnewsindia.com/Pages/content/outreach/mahadeva.html|title=A child that became a public undertaker|work=Online webpage of GoodnewsIndia.com|accessdate=2007-05-28}}</ref> His mother left her home village, taking her young son with her, following an unknown insult when Mahadeva was about 4.<ref name="narr"/> When he was about 7 and living in the town of [[Chamarajanagar]], his mother fell seriously ill and the doctors suggested that she should be admitted to a hospital in [[Bangalore]], 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 (Bangalore Medical College)|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.<ref name="narr"/> 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.<ref name="narr"/> 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]]), a relationship which led him to his present career.<ref name="narr"/>
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 price|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.<ref name="narr"/> 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 [[Kannada]] 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 [[Bangalore]], 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.<ref name="bio"/>

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]], [[Rajiv Gandhi]]. [[Sivarasan]] was killed in police firing in a house in [[Konanakunte]], a suburb of [[Bangalore]]. 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.<ref name="bio"/>

==Current situation==
Mahadeva still lives in poverty and was even forced to sell his horse and cart as well as his [[List of Chief Ministers of Karnataka|Chief Minister]]'s [[gold medal]] to raise money to pay off some debts.<ref name="bio"/> More recently, the [[Mayor]] of [[Bangalore]] donated him Rs. 25000 to buy a three-wheeled vehicle. The [[Indian Railways]] have also provided him with a [[cell phone]] and well-wishers have provide him with free petrol.<ref name="bio"/> His son Praveen accompanies him to the burials during weekends and vacations.

==Awards and honours==
Mahadeva has been awarded the following honours:
* [[List of Chief Ministers of Karnataka|Chief Minister]]'s Gold Medal in the year 1999
* [[Kempe Gowda]] award in the year 2004
* Godfrey Phillips Bravery Award for Social Acts of Courage in the year 2006

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahadeva, Trivikrama}}
[[Category:Businesspeople from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Mysore district]]

Trivikrama Mahadeva - Revision history

imported>BrownHairedGirl: remove {{Karnataka topics}}, which doesn't link here