Thousands of people from different walks of life paid last respects to former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, whose mortal remains were brought to Thirunakkara Maidan in Kottayam around 11 this morning. The funeral cortege carrying the body of the former Chief Minister began its journey from the state capital Thiruvananthapuram at 7.15 am yesterday and  took about 29 hours to reach Thirunakkara.

A large number of people waited patiently on both sides of MC Road from Thiruvananthapuram to Kottayam to pay homage to the departed leader. State political leaders cutting across party lines and film stars joined others to pay homage to Oommen Chandy. Over 2000 policemen have been deployed for duty to control the crowd. From Thirunakkara, the body will be taken to his ancestral house  and later to his partially built home at Puthuppally. He will be laid to rest at a specially designated burial ground at the St George Orthodox Church this evening.