The Health and Humanities division, St John’s Medical College, together with the student-led environment body Ecologics, initiated the plan to have a garden space dedicated to the remembrance of those who have donated their bodies to medical education.

The idea of the Eternal Grove emerged from a research study of body donors and their family members. The study found that family members often grappled with the decision of their loved one and needed a space ─ sometimes to grieve, sometimes to get closure, and sometimes, just to know that their loved one’s decision has been acknowledged and appreciated. A garden space with perennial trees and indigenous plants was seen as a good way to mark the eternal gratitude of the institution and students to the body donors and their families; and to provide a serene place where family members can remember their relatives when they have passed on. Having a central sculpture was seen as a necessary element to maintain the connection between students and the donors (their teachers).

The Eternal Grove is located adjoining the Embalming Centre, where the body is handed over by the family after the donor has passed on.

The Health and Humanities Division works with medical students in their first year to help humanise medical education. The use of art, poetry, reflective narratives and other forms of creative expression are fostered to enable students to put themselves in the shoes of another, to be sensitive to feelings and to pause and process situations around them. The sketch for the central sculpture was done by a medical student and symbolises the eternal bond and the everlasting gratitude between the donor and the student. This sculpture also represents the symbol of infinity.

Financial contributions towards setting up the garden were received from alumni and present students, either as a batch or as individuals. The cause was extended to include the noble gesture made by the families of organ donors for the life of another. The management supported the construction of the garden and will oversee its upkeep. Future batches will continue to plant a sapling, dedicate a bench and care for this area.

The Eternal Grove is not a cemetery or a religious space. No last rites or religious ceremonies are held here. It is however a sacred space where students and members of the academy are reminded of the remarkable gift of their bodies that donors have made to medicine, to medical education and research; and for family members and future donors to know that they are eternally respected and remembered.