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Jayalalithaa laid to rest with full state honours

Thousands of police officers formed chains to stop the heaving crowd from surging up the steps.

By :  vittal shastri
Update: 2016-12-06 13:22 GMT
Hundreds of thousands of people thronged to Chennai on Tuesday to pay their last respects to Tamil Nadu's late beloved leader, Jayaram Jayalalithaa. Draped in her favourite green colour saree, Jayalalithaa's body was put in a sandalwood casket and was taken to Marina beach, where she was laid to rest.
Jayalalithaa's body was taken from her Poes Garden residence early Monday morning to Rajaji Hall where hundreds and thousands of supporters queued up to have a last glimpse of their 'Puratchi Thalaivi Amma' (Revolutionary Leader Amma).
Thousands of police officers formed chains to stop the heaving crowd from surging up the steps. Men and women wept, some breaking into loud wails. Several mourners fainted from the heat and dehydration. Police said some had been keeping vigil outside the Apollo Hospital since Sunday and then walked to Rajaji Hall at daybreak.
Before being moved to Marina beach, Jayalalithaa's body, draped in the Indian flag, was kept on a raised platform at Rajaji Hall in Chennai and a sea of weeping mourners had gathered around it.
Though Ms Jayalalithaa was a Brahmin and the rituals followed by the community say their mortal remains should be cremated, a decision was taken to bury her body.
Jayalalithaa's close aide Sasikala Natarajan performed her last rites at the MGR memorial. The MGR memorial is home to the mortal remains of Jaya's mentor and AIADMK founder M. G. Ramachandran, the man who introduced the 'puratchi thalaivi' to the world of Dravidian politics.
Jayalalithaa died overnight following a heart attack a day earlier in Apollo Hospitals. Top leaders of the country, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had flown to Chennai on Monday to pay homage to the four-time chief minister.
Thousands of police officers formed chains to stop the heaving crowd from surging up the steps.

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