Bengaluru: Chennamma Deve Gowda, wife of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, was laid to rest with full state honours at the foothills of the Bettada Ranganathaswamy Temple near Haradanahalli, the native village of the former Prime Minister in Karnataka, on Monday, July 20.
Thousands of people, political leaders and admirers gathered to pay their last respects to the matriarch of the Gowda family.
Following the floral tributes by dignitaries, the Karnataka Police accorded full state honours with a three-round gun salute, followed by the National Anthem. A two-minute silence was observed in her memory before Chief Minister DK Shivakumar handed over the National Flag to HD Deve Gowda’s family.
In an emotional gesture, the Chief Minister also bowed before the former Prime Minister and touched his feet to seek his blessings.
The final rites began with purification rituals, after which HD Deve Gowda and family members performed the last religious ceremonies. Priests chanted Vedic hymns as the mortal remains were taken in a ceremonial procession around the burial site three times before the last rites were conducted according to the customs of the Vokkaliga community.
The funeral rites were performed by the couple’s elder son HD Ramesh. After sprinkling holy Ganga water at the burial site, the body was lowered into the grave and the final rituals were completed amid prayers and chants.
Earlier in the day, Union Ministers Prahlad Joshi, HD Kumaraswamy, V Somanna and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti, Ministers KJ George and KH Muniyappa, BJP State President BY Vijayendra, MP BY Raghavendra, seers including Dr Nirmalananda Swamiji and Rambhapuri Sri, legislators, MPs and several dignitaries offered floral tributes to Chennamma.
