Odisha man constructs graves for himself, wife while still alive

Gajapati (Odisha) [India], February 27, : We all know death is inevitable. We also know that we cannot take anything with us at death. Yet, all of us dream to have a beautiful house with all the luxuries of the world.
However, an elderly couple from the Gajapati district is an exception.
Instead of getting a building constructed, they have built graves for themselves. For this strange reason, the couple has become the talk of the town in the locality. Laxman Bhuyan, 80, and his wife Jengi Bhuyan, 70, live in an asbestos-roofed house at Souri village under Nuagarh block of Gajapati district. Though they have sons and daughters and daughters-in-law and sons-in-law, they live lonely life.
Fed up with all the flaws in society, they have long snapped their attachments with their children as well as moveable and immovable assets. Unlike most of us, they have not spent their lifelong savings constructing a big house. Rather, Laxman has constructed a marble-fitted grave with a tomb for him and his wife, spending Rs 1,50,000. To fund the construction cost, he had to sell away whatever assets he had. "I am now 80 years old. I have one foot in the grave. I do not know when we will die. However, we will live here in the grave after our death. I have constructed it of my own will. No one has asked me to do so," said Laxman Bhuyan.
The graves were constructed three to four years ago. But Laxman visits the graves every day to see whether it is intact or not as if someone was taking care of his house. "After death, can I see what my children will do with our bodies? They may bury them without any dignity. So I have constructed the graves for us so that we can lie in peace at least after death," said a visibly satisfied Laxman.
"He has spent a sum of Rs 1.5 lakh on the grave. He is saying he wouldn't have a problem in the grave after being put into it by his relatives after his death," said Rajesh Bhuyan, a villager.