A memorial of former T.N. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, for which the foundation was laid at the Kodanad Estate in Kil Kotagiri, on Friday, January 19, 2024, will, upon completion, be open to the public to pay their respects, according to the late CM’s former aide V.K. Sasikala.
Speaking to reporters after laying the foundation stone for the memorial, Ms. Sasikala, said she had chosen the spot, near a bus route to Kodanad, so that people would be able to visit the memorial. “If it was inside the estate, not everyone would be able to visit it. To enable people to visit, we decided on this spot for the memorial,” she said, adding that she expected the memorial to be completed by August.
“I couldn’t bring myself to visit this estate for so long as Amma (Jayalalithaa) used to like it so much and I was reluctant to visit without her,” she said. “Both Amma and I, as well as the workers here, thought of each other as family. Whenever we visited, we would interact with workers while they were working on the estate. Amma lived so peacefully and freely here,” she added.
Ms. Sasikala went on to say: “Just like a regular woman would live with a family was how Amma would live in Kodanad. She used to say often, that those years [of living within a family] had ended when she was between the ages of seven and nine. But I am reminded of those years in Kodanad, she would say.”
