Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was laid to rest at Marina Beach near her mentor and AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran’s (MGR) memorial on Tuesday evening.
The 68-year-old Jayalalithaa breathed her last at 11.30 p.m. on Monday after cardiac arrest at Apollo Hospitals, where she had been admitted on September 22. On Tuesday morning, Jayalalithaa’s body was moved to Rajaji Hall here from her Poes Garden residence for people to pay their last respects.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, her counterparts from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Delhi, Karnataka and Puducherry, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, and others also paid their last respects to Jayalalithaa. Later in the evening, Jayalalithaa’s last journey started from Rajaji Hall for Marina Beach on a military vehicle.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, Jayalalithaa’s close confidante Sasikala Natarajan and others were seated on the military truck that was towing the casket-laden carriage. The vehicle proceeded slowly through the streets packed with mourners towards Marina Beach. At the Marina Beach after the military honours, Jayalalithaa’s body was transferred to a sandalwood coffin from the glass casket.
Congress leaders Gandhi, and Ghulam Nabi Azad, Panneerselvam and Tamil Nadu Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao paid floral tribute to Jayalalithaa there. The religious last rites were simplified with Sasikala and her relative putting some sandal wood, flowers and other items as per the advice given by a religious expert. Around 6 p.m., the coffin was closed and lowered into the grave.
