Hearse carrying Former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy's remains reaches Kottayam

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Chandy's mortal remains reached his hometown in Kottayam district of the state, the stronghold of the Congress stalwart, on Thursday morning. The body was, thereafter, kept at the Thirunakkara Ground in Kottayam where a massive crowd, including senior political leaders from various parties, had been waiting since the previous day to pay tribute to the Congress veteran who died in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

After the people pay their last respects, his remains would be taken to his home in Puthuppally and thereafter, would be buried in a specially prepared tomb adjacent to departed priests of his village church, bringing to an end an era in Kerala politics. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would be attending Chandy's funeral, according to a tweet by AICC general secretary K C Venugopal.

The burial would be a simple one without any state honours in accordance with the wish of the late Congress leader. Nevertheless, being buried in the exclusive priests' burial area inside the church premises, instead of his family vault in the cemetery, is an honour in itself.

He is being accorded the honour as a mark of respect by the authorities of the St George Orthodox Church at Puthuppally considering the immense contributions made by Chandy to the parish and to the church for decades. As per the common practice, the mortal remains of ordinary believers are buried in the cemetery and those of priests in an exclusive area located north or south of the church.

Chandy's last journey had begun on Wednesday morning at around 7.20 am from the state capital Thiruvananthapuram where he had spent a major chunk of his life during his decades long political career as a legislator, leader of the Congress party and chief minister. However, the massive