Dignitaries, including the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and the president, Pranab Mukherjee, paid their respects at Rajaji Hall where Jayalalithaa’s body was put on public display before being buried in a flower-covered sandalwood coffin at Marina Beach.
Jayalalithaa, 68, died in hospital on Monday after a cardiac arrest.
A popular actor for two decades before entering politics, she inspired adoration in her supporters that was intense even by the standards of a culture that often turns public figures into minor gods.
That love was on display along the route of her funeral procession, with men and women weeping and prostrating themselves before her coffin as it passed.
“We fell at Amma’s feet due to our passam [affection] for her,” said Senthil Mani, a member of Jayalalithaa’s party who had turned out for the ceremony.
“Won’t you fall at the feet of God? Amma is our God.”
Riya Nagarajan, a transgender woman from Chennai, broke down crying as she recalled all Jayalalithaa “has done for the thirunanga [transgender] community”.
“We will never get anyone like her to lead Tamil Nadu again,” she said. “She gave us loans through self-help groups for us to start our own small businesses; she gave us health insurance and ration cards. We have no idea what will happen now. No one will care for us anymore.”
In an attempt to prevent public grief turning into riots, roads around Chennai were closed for the day and about 6,000 security personnel were on hand. Tensions were high ahead of the funeral and few taxis dared venture towards Marina Beach or the headquarters of Jayalalithaa’s party.
But passions appeared to have cooled by Tuesday evening, perhaps blunted by the 76 days the ailing leader had spent in hospital before her death.
Once the dignitaries had left the ceremony, and two concrete blocks had been used to cover the grave, Jayalalithaa’s shrine was turned over to the people, who spent the evening taking selfies in the neon-green lighting, or relaxing with their families on the grass.
Among them was 60-year-old Chinapapa, who had travelled four hours to the funeral and was dressed in a sari emblazoned with Jayalalithaa’s face. Like many poorer Tamil Nadu residents, she had been the beneficiary of the generous welfare policies pioneered by Jayalalithaa – and carefully calibrated to boost her following.
“Jayalalithaa has given me goats, cows, mixers and grinders, and built me a home,” she said. “After her, nobody will do such things … Nobody will have the guts.”
Dhatchana Moonthy, a cotton factory worker with a neat moustache, said he was planning to sleep at the shrine on Tuesday and catch the first train back to his village 30 miles (50km) away.
He said he had hoped to buy flowers to lay at Jayalalithaa’s grave, but all the florists in Chennai had been closed. Instead, he asked a police officer to bring him one of the flowers from her tomb.
The officer obliged, and Moonthy surveyed the flower briefly, before tossing it back. He said he felt “very satisfied”.
In the carnival atmosphere that overtook the shrine on Tuesday evening, a woman named R Valli was a sombre presence, dressed in black and crying quietly in her seat.
She said she had rushed to the hospital when she heard Jayalalithaa had had a cardiac arrest on Sunday.
“All the ministers and police outside the hospital told me not to cry, they said Amma would get better, that I should keep praying.” she said.
She said she had not eaten or slept since the news of Jayalalithaa’s death broke shortly after midnight on Monday.
“Amma had no family,” she said. “There was no one to shed a tear for her. She sacrificed everything for the people. We are her family.”
Flags were at half-mast across Tamil Nadu and an official mourning period will continue across the state until next Monday.
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