Vajpayee's last journey: Sea of people flood BJP HQ for 'antim darshan'

A man blew a conch in the swelling crowd and a group of youth chanted 'Atal Bihari Amar Rahe', as the carriage bearing his mortal remains gently made its way through a sea of mourners to a funeral site in the heart of Delhi.

A large number of people flooded the streets in front of the BJP headquarters, where his body was kept from morning till around 2 PM for people to catch a last glimpse of the leader.

Amid chanting of Vedic mantras, his body was then taken in a procession to the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal where he was accorded a state funeral.

A galaxy of personalities and public figures and commoners alike paid their last respects to the former prime minister before his mortal remains were consigned to flames.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, several chief ministers, including Shivraj Chauhan, Yogi Adityanath, Vijay Rupani, and Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Harsh Vardhan, among others, paid tribute to Vajpayee at the party headquarters.

The 93-year-old veteran politician died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) last evening after prolonged illness.

Men and women, young and old, had converged from places near and far, to bid farewell to Vajpayee.

An official from the Fijian Embassy here had also come, carrying a wreath in his hand. Some had even clambered on trees outside the BJP office, desperate to be part of the proceedings but unable to get inside.

Huge hoardings bearing pictures of Vajpayee and his famous poetic lines were erected near the BJP headquarters and the procession route, while giant cut-outs of the former prime minister could also be seen at various places along the way.

Around 2 PM, the carriage bearing his body in a special glass case decorated with flowers and tucked to a military vehicle left the place for the picturesque cremation site, as his admirers showered petals and hailed Vajpayee.

A giant portrait of him adorned the side of the military vehicle.

Personnel from the three services -- Army, Air Force, Navy -- moved in the vanguard of the carriage.

Chants of 'Atal Bihari Amar Rahe' rent the air, even as a man blew a conch ('shankh') as the procession began.

Hordes of people ran along on the other side of the Deendayal Upadhaya Marg and jostled to take pictures as the cortege made its way forward.

Modi, Shah and Chauhan walked behind the gun carriage carrying the mortal remains of the former prime minister from the BJP headquarters to Smriti Sthal.

Amid sultry weather conditions, a large number of people walked along the over seven km-long route. Heavy security was deployed along the route of the procession.

The crowd was so massive that the people spilled over makeshift barricades put along the road-divider and jostled to get a glimpse of the former prime minister.

Along the way, few shopkeepers, downed shutter as the carriage passed by while many onlookers folded their hands in a mark of respect.

Mourners walked and ran along the procession as it moved on, chanting slogans like 'Jab tak sooraj chand rahega Atal ji ka naam rahega', punctuated by patriotic cheers of 'Bharat Mata ki jai' and 'Vande Mataram'.

At the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal, Vajpayee's mortal remains were consigned to flames in the evening, as the sun set on the life of the poet-politician who combined accommodative politics with graciousness.

Foster daughter Namita Kaul Bhattacharya lit the pyre as cries of 'Atal Bihari Amar Rahe' reverberated in the air.