The funeral procession of former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is on its way to his ancestral house in Puthupally after public viewing at Kottayam's Thirunakkara Maidanam.His mortal remains reached Kottayam almost 28 hours after it left his Puthapally House in Jagathy, Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
The funeral of the late leader has been rescheduled to 7.30 pm. It will take place at the St George Orthodox Church in Puthuppally under the supervision of Baselios Marthoma Mathews III, the head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.The KSRTC bus with big wide glass windows, carrying his mortal remains was greeted by lakhs of people during its journey from the state capital to Kottayam. His body was kept at the Thirunakkara maidan for over 2 hours for the public to pay respects.The burial would be a simple one without any state honours in accordance with the wish of the late Congress leader.
The procession that began at the Puthuppally House at Jagathy in the state capital has taken more than 28 hours to reach his hometown of Puthuppally.The procession had entered the Kollam district by 3 pm. Massive crowds gathered at various towns in the district -- at Chadayamangalam, Valakam, Ayur, Kottarakkara and Adoor.It took almost six hours for the procession to reach Enathu, the entry point to the neighbouring district of Pathanamthitta.Oommen Chandy, who served as the chief minister of Kerala twice, breathed his last in a private hospital in Bengaluru in the early hours of Tuesday. He was 79.