Volunteers spruce up historic graveyard in Chennai

People who would roll up their sleeves and tidy up a cemetery in a spirit of volunteership are scarce. When those maintaining a graveyard find such people on the horizon they cannot be grateful enough for their good fortune.

Last month, those in charge of the 217-year-old St. Patrick’s Cemetery on Pallavan Salai found reason for such gratitude. Around two dozen volunteers from parishes under the Archdiocese of Madras Mylapore hunkered down to a cleaning work at the cemetery, which is a vast expanse.

Chintadripet, Vepery, Park Town and Narasingapuram were among the parishes that contributed to this “workforce”. Notably, this exercise is not a one-off thing: these volunteers have agreed to meet once a month for clean-up work at the cemetery.

The parish priest of Our Lady of Dolours Chapel Father Prakash, who is also responsible for maintaining the St. Patrick’s Cemetery, which is attached to the chapel, notes that the most challenging work at the cemetery is checking the growth of weeds, especially when it rains. Even useful trees require pruning.

“Last month, volunteers pruned tree branches and also removed thorny bushes,” says the priest adding that they also engage workers in keeping the nine-and-a-half-acre wide cemetery clean.

But many a time, that is just not enough.

“Unless we have a dedicated team of people who monitor the graveyard, managing its activities becomes difficult,” he says.

R. Ranjith, a resident of Chintadripet who has family members buried in the cemetery, says he was motivated to sign up as a volunteer seeing the various measures being taken to improve the place. “When you visit a grave to pray and find the place overrun with bushes it leaves you disturbed; so I thought of doing my bit whenever I can,” says Ranjith.

The historic cemetery, which has 3000 plots/graves, some dating back to the 1800s, has undergone a number of changes in the last one year ever since Father Prakash took charge of its maintenance. “All kinds of illegal activities were happening in this space; with the help of various groups including political leaders and police we fought and overturned this situation,” he says.

In April 2025, The Hindu Downtown carried a feature about the facelift the place received with a compound wall, solar-powered lights, concrete pathways, and new saplings. The local police now go on rounds at the cemetery twice a day to keep a vigil of the place.

“You need to keep the graveyard welcoming through the year. And with the support of many people who have joined the WhatApp group we are hoping to keep these initiatives running,” says Father Prakash.

The church has also introduced a cemetery card and requests relatives whose family members are buried in the cemetery to renew it every year with a fee of ₹ 800.

To volunteer, call 80560 55781