About the Book

The Final Farewell: Understanding The Last Rites and Rituals of India’s Major Faiths What are the beliefs associated with death in India? How do final rites and rituals reveal the misogyny and caste-based discrimination that plague the country? Who are the people involved in managing the deceased and laying them to rest? What are the economic and environmental costs of saying that final goodbye? Powerful and enlightening, The Final Farewell offers a glimpse into a world that is misunderstood and feared.

With compassion and sensitivity, Minakshi Dewan explores the many ways in which some of the country’s major faiths treat the dead: this includes avoidance of human remains, believed by some to be spiritual pollutants; the worship of bodies at the pyre; professional mourners hired to wail loudly for the dead; and musicians devoted to celebrating life at funerals.

Based on thorough research, keen observation, personal interviews, The Final Farewell is a reminder to honour those who came before, and to work towards a better world to leave behind.

Award Recognition

🏆 Shortlisted for the Association for the Study of Death and Society (ASDS) Book Award

This prestigious recognition honors outstanding and original contributions in the field of death studies. Learn more about the award

What Readers Are Saying

The book has received widespread acclaim from major publications including The Telegraph, Outlook India, Frontline, Business Standard, and academic journals like Death Studies. Critics have praised it as “a moving and necessary book” that offers “a humane approach to death” while “forcing us to think of death and last rites” in new and meaningful ways.

Media Highlights

The Final Farewell has been featured in numerous prestigious outlets including:

• Book Excerpts: Scroll, The Print, She The People
• Opinion Pieces: Deccan Herald, The Telegraph, The Indian Express
• Best of 2024 Lists: Talk Death, The Telegraph’s Page Turners
• Academic Book Reviews: Death Studies Journal, Doing Sociology

Book Events

• Book Signing Event (January 2024)
• Book Talk, Jawaharlal Nehru University: January 2024
• Book Signing, World Book Fair: February 2024
• Book Signing, World Book Fair: February 2025
• Book Talk, Kamala Nehru College: January 2026