India’s Shradhanjali is an actual digital graveyard

Think newspaper obituaries are too temporary? In India, your deceased loved ones can now live on forever on Shradhanjali. A clone of Legacy.com from the US, Shradhanjali (Hindi for ‘tribute’) lets users create memorial webpages for those who are no longer here to make their own Facebook accounts.

Founder Vivek Vyas says the service has been surprisingly well-received in India, although many found it strange at first. The website posts high-profile memorials for free, and charges everybody else a one-time fee of INR 2700 ($44) per memorial, which lasts for 30 years. The paywall keeps out would-be pranksters and people trying to fake their own deaths. Thankfully, no ads are displayed on the obituaries (“This grave sponsored by Coca-Cola”).

Each memorial page lets people post pictures, text, video, and even music. Viewers can post condolences in the form of comments. And what online obituary would be complete without the ability to ‘Like’ it on Facebook?

Shradhanjali provides different language options for India’s many ethnic groups to publish biographies.

Vyas says his company entered the India book of records last month as the first online memorial/tribute web portal in the country.

So far, Shradhanjali has 140 paid registered users and has received over one million hits. He plans to seek out VC and angel funding to expand.

(Editing by Josh Horwitz)