BANGALORE: A milling crowd of quiet mourners paid its last respects to Kannada literary colossus U R Ananthamurthy on Saturday.
He was cremated with full state honours amid Vedic chants at Kalagrama, on the Jnanabharati campus of Bangalore University.
His mortal remains, wrapped in the Indian tricolour, were given a gun salute by the police. The flag draped around his body was then handed over to his son-in-law Vivek Shanbhag.
Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy was cremated in the presence of his wife Esther, daughter-in-law Jyotsna, daughter Anuradha, brother Anil Kumar and a host of other relatives. The final rites were performed in accordance with Madhwa Brahmin traditions. Earlier in the day, Muslim and Christian priests also offered prayers, as was desired by Ananthamurthy. A team of 15 priests performed the last rites, with Ananthamurthy’s son Sharat lighting the funeral pyre.
His body reached Kalagrama at 2.30 pm in a flower-bedecked vehicle. Earlier, at Ravindra Kalakshetra, many VIPs joined the milling crowd to pay their last respects.
It took till 3 pm for the state honours to be completed, and Sharat then began performing the last rites, lighting the pyre at 4.15 pm.
BJP national vice-president B S Yeddyurappa and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah arrived at Kalagrama at 3 pm. Ministers Umashree, Ambareesh, T B Jayachandra and U T Khader accompanied Siddaramaiah. Many political, literary and film personalities remained at Kalagrama till the body was cremated.
The police had made massive security arrangements to ensure smooth conduct of the last rites, restricting entry to the spot. Seating arrangements had been made for 2,000, about 50 metres from the pyre.
A shelter had also been erected, in case of rain. The police had deployed additional forces who guided the mourners.
At Kalakshetra Admirers waited patiently in a long queue to pay their respects to Ananthamurthy at Ravindra Kalakshetra earlier in the day.
Religious heads, political leaders, representatives of Kannada and farmers’ organisations union, theatre and film artistes, writers, and thousands of admirers stood in silence, awaiting their turn to approach his mortal remains.