The Spectacle of Death 

Madras' unique funeral traditions and political history showcased through The Hindu's detailed coverage of leaders' deaths.

We as a city inherently know how to be respectful of death. We invest it with a certain gravitas that is not often seen elsewhere. For years, the sports page of The Hindu was the first to be read in the paper, as it also had the obituary column. That dictated the schedule of the morning – if it was someone you knew, you made a visit, drank (and cursed) the coffee offered, paid your respects and returned home to bathe and get on with the day. The obituary column has since peregrinated and is often in colour these days, but it still is a must see. Elsewhere, traffic no matter how dense or unruly, will always quieten down and wait for a cortege to pass, complete with drums, dancers and deafening crackers.

It therefore is quite appropriate that Madras holds the record for the largest congregation of humanity to pay tribute to a departed leader. That was on February 3 and 4, 1969. The State’s charismatic leader and then Chief Minister, C.N. Annadurai had passed away after a tragically brief tenure in office. Though it was known that his illness was terminal, his passing was a shock to the people. It also seems to have taken the administration by surprise. And reading The Hindu, we are able to see many steps being taken on the go, even while the body was on display. These steps would later become standard operating procedure for the administration, each time a leader died. Madras had shown the way.

The body had been brought to Anna’s Nungambakkam residence from the Cancer Institute in the early hours of February 3. But none seems to have bargained with people wanting to see their leader. As the crowds began pouring in, Nungambakkam was cordoned off and it was decided to shift the body to Rajaji Hall. People soon began massing there and while the body was being brought in, there was chaos. It was only then that the police realised that barricades may be necessary, and this was hastily arranged even as the body was taken into Rajaji Hall. As entry was restricted there was a near stampede outside in which one person died. In the meanwhile, people had managed to clamber on to the walls of Rajaji Hall and enter the false ceiling just above the body. Cracks began to appear, and pieces of plaster began falling even as the giant chandelier swayed alarmingly.

To prevent anything untoward from happening, it was decided to move the body to the front steps of the building and place it at an angle so that the crowds could see it as they filed past – an SOP that is followed till date. In the meanwhile, another drama was unfolding – chaos on the streets as buses from the entire state were pouring in with people. Local transport was curtailed to prevent possibilities of violence. The police force was strained to its utmost in controlling crowds and managing security. A few heads would roll later – another first. The weather was the only factor that was kind. Newspaper reports have it that both the 3rd and the 4th were chilly days.

By the 4th, with Anna’s body safely buried, everyone heaved a sigh of relief. And there was clearly one person who was emerging the leader – he had been here, there, and everywhere. Now appealing to the crowds, now confabulating with VIPs and fellow cabinet ministers, now directing the police, and also identifying the place of burial. It was M. Karunanidhi.

But as an observer, it was the crowd that stunned Y.B. Chavan, who had come down as the PM’s representative. Legend has it that he reported later to her that the if the attendance was anything to go by, the Dravidian identity had come to stay. Prophetic words if true.

The crowds were massive during MGR’s funeral as well, in December 1987, but it was the vandalism that made it to the news. The Hindu has it that practically every building on Mount Road bore the brunt even as running battles between the police and lawbreakers took place on Cathedral Road and Radhakrishnan Salai. The SOPs of 1969 were all in place, but the lawlessness was something new. But even here, a new leader was emerging – Jayalalithaa. Her being pushed off the gun carriage and her standing her ground was what everyone noticed.