The clergy, relatives and political leadership were inside Karottu Vallakkalil — the ancestral house of Oommen Chandy at Puthuppally, Kottayam. But there were many more outside, who lined up on the road and beyond, to mark the funeral of the former Chief Minister in their own ways.
Tens of thousands of people bid a tearful adieu to the veteran Congress leader at Puthuppally, his native village, here. His mortal remains were laid to rest at a specially built tomb at St. George Orthodox Church here in the early hours on Friday. even as slogans hailing the leader, popularly called Kunjoonju, rent the air outside.
A host of leaders led by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and many of the State’s senior political figures joined the rank and file of the Congress and well-wishers from around the State.
Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews III, head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, led the funeral services, while about 20 metropolitans of the Church joined. Major archbishop Mar George Cardinal Alencherry was also present.
Earlier, the Congress flag-draped coffin had begun its final leg of journey to Puthuppally from Thirunakkara Maidan by 2.40 p.m on Thursday. The cortege, which slowly made its way through the crowd, took another three-and-a-half hours to reach its destination. After brief prayer sessions at his ancestral house and then at his partially constructed house nearby, it was taken straight to the church.
The police had deployed 2,000 personnel to manage the crowd. That arrangement, however, was dwarfed by the crowds. Overwhelmed by a steady stream of the masses, the schedule set for public viewing of the body and funeral services was thrown into complete disarray.
“People are giving back their love and affection to Chandy, who lived among and for them. In his final journey too, he has made it a point to remain among the masses. No political leader in the State will ever experience the warmth of the people to this extent,” observed K.C. Joseph, senior Congress leader and a long-time companion of Chandy.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, West Bengal Governor C.V. Anand Bose, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Devaswom Minister K. Radhakrishnan, Forest Minister C.K. Saseendran, Power Minister K. Krishnankutty, Government Chief Whip N. Jayaraj and District Collector V. Vigneswari were among those paid their last respects to Chandy at Thirunakkara.
