Dissatisfied relatives accord Jayalalithaa a 'second' funeral

Dissatisfied with her burial, Jayalalithaa's relatives conducted the last rites in keeping with orthodox Iyengar customs.

Days after her burial, estranged relatives of J Jayalalithaa chose to accord her a second funeral on Tuesday, this time with Vedic rituals.

Dissatisfied with her burial instead of the more traditional cremation in accordance with Vedic customs, Jayalalithaa's relatives conducted the last rites in keeping with orthodox Iyengar customs.

The former Tamil Nadu chief minister's step brother Vasudevan conducted the rites according to Iyengar customs in Srirangapatna. Two priests, Ramanuja Iyengar and Rangaraja Iyengar, conducted the rites and claimed that it would compensate for her body not being cremated.

Jayalalithaa, unlike most Dravidian party leaders, was a devout Hindu. However, instead of being cremated, she was buried alongside her mentor M G Ramachandran at Marina Beach in Chennai.

OneIndia News