Jayalalithaa laid to rest with full state honours

Tamil Nadu came to a standstill on Tuesday as a sea of humanity surged to pay its last respects to chief minister J Jayalalithaa. The popular leader was declared dead at Apollo Hospitals around midnight on Monday. Her body was then taken to her Poes Garden residence.

After ceremonial rites, her body was shifted to Rajaji Hall, draped in the tricolour, to enable people to get a last glimpse. She was buried at Marina Beach, next to the memorial of her mentor M G Ramachandran (MGR). Jayalalithaa and MGR were a popular pair in Tamil cinema before he entered politics and rose to become Tamil Nadu chief minister.

Watch, bangle intactJayalalithaa’s favourite watch remained on her left wrist and a bangle adorned her right as a flower-bedecked military truck carrying her body traversed Chennai’s main streets.

President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister for Information M Venkaiah Naidu, chief ministers Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), Chandrababu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh) and Naveen Patnaik (Odisha) and actor Rajinikanth were among the VIPs who paid their respects. Jayalalithaa’s close aide Sasikala and her family members flanked the body. Curiously, Panneerselvam, a staunch Jayalalithaa loyalist, was not seen near the body.

“Amma yenna vittutu poyitteye,” (Mother, you have abandoned me), wailed a woman AIADMK member, running behind the funeral



procession. Thousands of party workers were screaming and beating themselves in grief. The procession took an hour and a half to move from Rajaji Hall, where the body lay in state for 10 hours, to Marina Beach through Wallajah Road.

Buried next to MGRA burial space, identical to the one allotted to MGR, was provided for her. Sasikala and Jayalalithaa’s nephew Deepak (elder brother Jayakumar’s son) performed the last rites. Ministers Venkaiah Naidu and Pon Radhakrishnan also participated in the rituals on behalf of the Centre.

According to the City Police and Chennai Corporation, about 2 lakh people were near the burial site and the total number of people who paid a visit to pay their last respects to the ‘Iron lady’ at Rajaji Hall could have been around 6 to 8 lakhs. The crowd swelled so much at times that the police had to use mild force to keep things under control.

Soon after the rituals were over at around 6.10 pm, the sandalwood casket containing Jayalalithaa's mortal remains was lowered into the ground in a pit located some 60 feet from the place where MGR had been lowered into the ground 29 years ago. Like mentor MGR, Jayalalithaa also had the party flag draped on her body and her trademark wristwatch on her hand. Jayalalithaa’s long-time confidante Sasikala Natarajan and the AIADMK supremo’s nephew J. Deepak performed the last rites at the memorial site.