Jaipur, May 19 (IANS): A Brahmin organisation here has decided to call off the ancient practice of hosting "Mrityu Bhoj" (hosting a lunch after death) and instead use the money for renovating temples and dharamshalas which are of public use.

Shankarlal Sharma, Rajasthan-in-charge of the Vipra Foundation, said, "Since years, there were discussions taking place to put a ban on this practice. However, the challenge was who should bell the cat? As Vipra Foundation enjoys a global presence with members all across, we decided on this Sunday to abolish this practice."

A total of 217 members from different parts of the country were present in the meeting held here, which also included Rajasthan MPs, namely, Ramcharan Bohra and C.P. Joshi.

"In this meeting, we all accepted that the money being spent on mrityu bhoj should be spent on constructing dharamshalas so that people can benefit out of it."

The proposal was accepted by one and all, he said further.

When asked, how will you implement the decision, he said, "All members of the foundation shall follow it. Also, we will keep an eye in and around. If anyone is hosting the mrityu bhoj in our neighbourhood, we shall counsel them and make them aware that dead person never asks us to waste a huge amount of fund on hosting food for so many people. It's just a show off and waste of funds," he said further.