Davender Ghai described commonly used cremation facilities as "a mechanised humiliation of dignity – a waste disposal process devoid of spiritual significance".

The 70-year-old spiritual healer said "confining bodies in coffins and concealing the cremation process" did not reflect the philosophy and cultural values he lived by.

Mr Ghai, from Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne is fighting for the legal right to be cremated on an open-air funeral pyre in "a sacrament of fire".

If he is successful, the three-day test case in London could provide a precedent for other Hindus and Sikhs.

A British citizen who moved to England from Kenya in 1958, Mr Ghai is the founding president of the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society.

He was refused a permit for an open-air cremation site in Northumberland in February 2006. Newcastle City Council told him cremations were illegal outside of crematoria under the 1902 Cremation Act.

He is seeking court orders and declarations that the refusal violated his human rights.