PM Modi's mother Heeraben cremated; PM bids final adieu with folded hands

New Delhi, Dec 30: The mortal remains of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother Heeraben, who passed away early on Friday, were consigned to flames at a crematorium in Gandhinagar. Hiraben died at a hospital in Ahmedabad at 3.30 am. She was 99.

A bulletin from the UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre, where she was admitted on Wednesday after her health deteriorated, shared the news of her demise.

After learning about her death, the prime minister reached the residence of his brother Pankaj Modi at Raysan village on the outskirts of Gandhinagar, where the mortal remains of their mother were kept.

PM Modi arrived at the airport in Ahmedabad in the morning and went straight to the house of his younger brother. There he offered floral tributes to his mother and bowed down at her feet. Later, PM Modi shouldered her mortal remains on way to the cremation ground for the last rites. Her mortal remains were consigned to flames by the prime minister and his brothers. Earlier, the prime minister tweeted that ''a great journey of 100 years'' has ended with his mother's demise.

''A great journey of 100 years has come to an end. I have witnessed three qualities in mother, a journey like that of a tapasvi (saint), a selfless worker and life dedicated to values,'' Modi tweeted.

''When I met her on her 100th birthday she told one thing which I always remember. ''Kam karo buddhi thi, jivan jivo suddhi thi'' (work using your brain and live life with purity,'' he said in the tweet.