Why was Jayalalithaa buried and not cremated
It was the party and not Jayalalithaa's family that decided that she would be given a burial.
Chennai, Dec 7: There were questions that were asked when it was decided that J Jayalalithaa would be buried and not cremated.
Customs suggest that a Tamil Iyengar Brahmin is cremated and not buried.
The fact that Jayalalithaa a Tamil Iyengar Brahmin was buried and not cremated raised eye brows in several quarters.
Jayalalithaa who breathed her last on Monday was laid to rest besides the memorial of her mentor and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M G Ramachandran, at the Marina beach, Chennai.
There are two reasons why Jayalalithaa was given a burial.
The AIADMK wants to erect a memorial for Jayalalithaa just the way it was done in the case of both MGR and Anna Durai.
It was the party and not Jayalalithaa's family that decided that she would be given a burial.
In order to build a memorial, the party decided that she would be buried and not cremated.
The other reason could be because of the Dravidian culture.
[Also Read: Jayalalithaa: The battler of Tamil Nadu politics]
Rituals are a strict no in the Dravidian culture.
Some officials had said that Jayalalithaa would always say that she wanted to be buried next to her mentor, MGR.
OneIndia News