People from various walks of life, including leaders from across the political spectrum, bid adieu to veteran RSS ideologue P Parameswaran as his mortal remains were cremated at his native Muhamma village in Alappuzha district in Kerala on Monday.
The body of the 93-year old thinker and writer, who died on Sunday, was brought from Thiruvananthapuram to the sleepy Muhamma village where a large number of people and leaders of different political parties besides the BJP-RSS workers paid their last respects.
Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan paid floral tributes to the veteran on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president J P Nadda.
Full state honours were accorded as Parameswaran was a Padma awardee.
After the last rites were completed, the funeral pyre was lit by his nephew. Parameswaran was a bachelor.
Earlier, when the body was kept for public homage at the state capital, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, veteran Congress leader Oommen Chandy, Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala, state ministers -- Thomas Isaac and A K Balan -- were among those who paid their tributes.
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Mizoram Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai, Union Ministers Sadanand Gowda and V Muraleedharan and RSS General Secretary Sunil Bhaiyyaji Joshi also paid homage to the founder-director of the Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram.
Parameswaran breathed his last in the wee hours of Sunday at Ottappalam in Palakkad district where he was undergoing Ayurvedic treatment.
His body was brought to Kochi and later shifted to Thiruvananthapuram on Monday night.
A leader of the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Parameswaran, who had worked with leaders including Deendayal Upadhyaya, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani during the Sangh days, was honoured with the country's second highest civilian award Padma Vibhushan in 2018 and Padma Shri in 2004.
Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and a host of leaders had condoled his death.
Fondly called as Parameswarji by the Sangh Parivar members, the late leader was a prolific writer, poet, researcher and a widely-respected RSS ideologue.
He was the Bharatiya Jana Sangh's secretary (1967-1971) and vice-president (1971-1977) as well as the director of the Deendayal Research Institute (1977-1982) in New Delhi.
Parameswaran focused his entire energy on laying a strong foundation for RSS ideology in Kerala and other parts of the country through his writings, teachings and discourses.
In 1982, he set up the Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram with the aim of national reconstruction through study and research.
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