A photograph of a large family from Mallapally of Kerala’s Pathanamthitta, with a smile on everyone’s faces, has been making the rounds on social media platforms. The family members are seen smiling while gathered around a glass coffin where an elderly woman’s body was kept. The woman was their family member 95-year-old Mariyamma, who had passed away on August 17. Many have criticised and judged the family for smiling in the photograph while standing by a coffin. The family has been accused of impropriety and has been asked how they could smile when someone dear to them had passed away.
Following such reactions, the family members have come forward to explain the reason for their smiles. They told the media that Mariyamma had lived a happy life for 95 years, giving and receiving a lot of love, and the family had given her a happy farewell. She had nine children and had been living with their families happily, as they took good care of her, the family said. Mariyamma passed away on August 17 after being bedridden for nearly a year, and the viral photograph was taken on August 19.
Mariyamma’s relatives said that after her death, they just wanted to recollect the best memories of their mother. They said that the photograph of them smiling next to her body was taken intentionally, sometime before the funeral, after the whole family sat together and prayed for Mariyamma for about 24 hours. They added that people who are accustomed to the tears at the time of death cannot accept the photograph.
The relatives also said that the photograph was taken as a private family keepsake and was somehow leaked to outsiders. They also said that they don’t regret the decision to take the photograph, as they were saying goodbye to their mother, who was going to heaven as per their Christian belief.
Meanwhile, Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty in a Facebook post asked people to refrain from making negative comments on the photograph. “Death is painful. But it is also a farewell. What could be happier than giving a smiling farewell to those who have lived happily ever after? This photo doesn't need negative comments,” the minister wrote.