ABSTRACT
The Uttarakhand tragedy brought to the surface an ongoing contradiction of sorts between the deeply ingrained cultural beliefs and the reality of an extremely medicalized death. This contradiction accounts for the misery of aging and dying in present times despite persistent efforts for an improved management of end-of-life care. WHO strongly supports the need to integrate spiritual care during palliative and end-of-life care. Unfortunately, cultural sensitivity in end-of-life care is a highly neglected area in India, and mechanisms for integrating it systematically in terminal care have not been explored either in hospitals or in palliative care practices. As opposed to Ayurveda, which is centered on extending life, Yoga has a more important role to play in end-of-life care. The yogic perspective and practice of death is now being increasingly explored in end-of-life and palliative care in many Western hospice programs, though not yet seriously implemented in India.
