With Sydney grappling with the need for more burial plots, the city's funeral industry is also presented with a new problem — a lack of open-air funeral venues.

The majority of funeral venues in Sydney are chapels, and with a growing population of non-religious individuals, there is an increase in demand for different options.

The Lotus Pavilion in Macquarie Park is the only Crown-operated funeral space that is open-air in the city, designed to meet the needs of Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs as it allows for incense to be burned and fires to be lit — important rituals in these cultures.

It has been operating at Macquarie Park Cemetery and Crematorium since 2017 and was designed in consultation with representatives from the community.

President of the Australian Council of Hindu Clergy,

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