In search of their dead

Graveyard tourism is developing into a unique segment.

I am looking for a Patrick Mason and Eliza Mason, his wife, who lived India from 1820 to 1870. They had two children called Elizabeth and Frank Mason...," says a request by Reverend Julian West in England on Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.

Requests such as this are increasingly showing up in newspapers and on the Internet, reflecting an increased interest in old British graves in India. This in turn has given momentum to a very different kind of tourism "" dubbed as graveyard tourism "" which till so far was considered only a special interest segment.

Says Rosie Llewellyn-Jones, secretary, British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia (BACSA): "British have a long connection with India, and many have their ancestors buried in India. In most cases, people know where they were buried, but in some cases they approach us to get to the exact cemetery."

BACSA has a list of almost all British cemeteries in India. "There are about 830 that we know of and we are discovering more like the one at Matheran. We also get queries from researchers and historians who are writing about people not related to them, but who are historical figures."

Graveyard tourism is a concept that seems to have clicked for Europe and there is no reason why it cannot be replicated in India, feels the government.

A recent Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) document says: "The Ministry of Tourism has identified 68 cemeteries associated with the Sepoy Mutiny as national monuments. There are over two million European graves scattered all across Delhi, Meerut, Agra, Sahranpur, Kanpur and Farrukhabad and special funds have been allocated for their upkeep. This has prompted the ministry to plan a nostalgia trip for descendants."

The only hitch here is that there appears to be lack of synergy between the centre and the state governments. For instance, till a few months ago, the tourism department in Uttar Pradesh was talking enthusiastically about a Mutiny Tour. But now, a senior tourism official says that nothing has been done in this regard. It is the same case with Delhi Tourism.

There is, however, some movement in Himachal Pradesh. A noted local historian Raja Bhasin is working on a book for Himachal Pradesh Tourism which, he says, would be an introduction to the churches and Christian cemeteries in Himachal Pradesh. "Every once in a while there are groups, and then there is definitely a curiousity," says Bhasin.

Tour operators feel the same way. Ravi Kalra, managing director, Travel Inn, says he gets about five families a year. "Enquiries for graveyard tours are up at least 20-25 per cent," he says.

This September, Kalra is getting two groups of 30 each (promoted by the British Museum) for a Mutiny Tour "" Delhi-Meerut-Gwalior-Lucknow-Kolkata. "These groups will be here just to explore the cemeteries," he confirms, adding that it only a private initiative and there is little support from government.

It is not just British tourists who come graveyard hunting. "Some old Japanese World War-II veterans, too, come looking for the graves of their ancestors in Kohima. This is the point where the Japanese had reached during the war," says Lajpat Rai, managing director, Lotus Trans Travels.

But as of now, the agents insist that all these initiatives are private. They call for a push by the government. "But this has to be a concerted campaign and not just one off announcement," says Kalra. Is the ministry listening?