Kerala Christian Priest Bids Hindu Farewell to Domestic Help Who Raised His Daughter

At the Onasseril house in Chottanikkara, Ernakulam district, the air was thick with the smoke of ritualistic lamps and the sound of Vedic chants on Monday. The courtyard was filled with neighbours and visitors who had travelled from afar, all gathered to pay their last respects to Parvathi, affectionately known as Payamma, who passed away on Sunday night at the age of 88.

Parvathi was not a family member by blood, but by bond. She had served as a domestic worker in the household of Father O J Jacob, a priest of the Orthodox Church, for 26 years. In a gesture of deep respect, the Jacob family chose to conduct her final rites according to Hindu traditions, with a Hindu priest reading the mantras before her body was taken for cremation.

Father Jacob recalled that Parvathi had lost her parents at the age of nine and had worked as a maid for over three decades before joining his family in 2000. At that time, the household was reeling from the loss of his wife, leaving him to care for his six-year-old daughter, Merin. Parvathi stepped into the role of a mother figure, and Merin began calling her Payamma, a loving short form of her name.

The bond extended beyond daily care. During Merin's wedding, Parvathi stood by her side at the church, fulfilling the role of a mother. Parvathi had been unwell for a week and was under palliative care before her death. Her distant relatives performed the final rites in the traditional Hindu manner.

Chottanikkara panchayat member Aleena George noted that Payamma had become a mother figure not just for Merin, but for many children in the area over the past two decades. Scores of women who had grown up in her warmth returned on Monday to bid her a final farewell, a testament to the quiet, enduring legacy of a woman who found a family and became one in return.