Mysuru: Upset over the burial of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister late Jayaram Jayalalithaa who belonged to an Iyengari Brahmin family, the relatives of Mr N.J. Vasudevan, who claims to be Ms Jayalalithaa’s step-brother, redid her final rites while praying for eternal peace for her soul at Pashchima Vahini near Srirangpatna here on Tuesday.
Mr N.J. Vasudevan who lives in a modest house in the remote village of Srirangarajapuram in T Narsipur taluk, here said that the rituals were performed as per Sri Ramanujacharya’s Srivyshnava customs. He claims to be the son of Jayamma, the first wife of Ms Jayalalithaa’s father, late Mr Jayaram
“In our culture only sanyasis (saints) are buried and we consign the body to flames. But she was buried as per Christian customs in Chennai. Since I am aged and ailing and I cannot perform the rituals myself, I gave ‘manthrisida darbe hullu,’ a grass (similar to the power of attorney to perform rituals) to my nephew Varadarajan, son of my maternal aunt late Sumithra (sister of his mother Jayamma).
He along with another nephew of mine, Narasimha, son of another maternal aunt late Rajamani performed the rituals under the guidance of priest Ranganatha Acharya. They personified a doll made of grass (darbe hullu) as Ms Jayalalithaa and cremated her by burning the doll at Paschima vahini on Tuesday.
The ashes were later immersed in the river Cauvery. “As per our traditions, the rituals are carried on for 13 days. Now the rituals which were not carried out for the first nine days will be carried out on the 10th day on Wednesday, and the rest of the rituals on the 11th and 12th day. And Vykuntasamaradana will be held on the 13th day on the 17th of this month. The 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th day rituals will be held at Srirangpatna, ” Mr Vasudevan explained.
