Speeches, songs and artillery fire rang out across Nelson Mandela's childhood home as South Africa said a final farewell to the man who united the country when it teetered on the edge of bloody conflict.
With the full panoply of pomp and circumstance befitting the funeral of a great and much loved nation and international leader, Mandela’s body was brought from his house on a gun carriage, led by a military band in bright red dress uniform and a guard of honor of the South African defense forces. It was flanked by senior officers.
In a moving oration, his former fellow prisoner on Robben Island, Ahmed Kathrada, said he has lost a brother.
“My life is in a void and I don’t know who to turn to,” said Kathrada who served 26 years with Mandela.
South African television showed Mandela's casket at the family gravesite. The broadcasting was stopped at the request of the Mandela family.
The burial took place among the rolling hills of Qunu, the village in eastern South Africa where Mandela grew up and where he was taken for burial in an elaborate ceremony.
A 21-gun salute and full military honor guard had escorted Mandela's coffin to the marquee where 4,500 mourners said their final goodbyes.
His flag-draped casket was placed on cow skins, surrounded by 95 candles - each signifying a year of his extraordinary life.
On Dec. 7, 2013, the world lost a true hero in Nelson Mandela – who led a life of tolerance and dignity under the most trying of circumstances.
The funeral closed the final chapter on a towering public figure whose courage and moral fortitude turned him into a global symbol of freedom and hope.
During 10 days of mourning, hundreds of thousands of South Africans had turned out across the country to bid the founding father of their "Rainbow Nation" farewell.
They braved a rain-sodden memorial in Soweto and queued for three days to see his remains as he lay in state at Pretoria's Union Buildings.
“It is the end of 95 glorious years of a freedom fighter, a dedicated and humble servant of the people of South Africa,” South African President Jacob Zuma said in his eulogy at the funeral ceremony.
“Whilst the long walk to freedom has ended in the physical sense, our own journey continues. We have to continue building the type of society you worked tirelessly to construct. We have to take the legacy forward,” he said.
“His struggle was your struggle. His triumph was your triumph. Your dignity and hope found expression in his life, and your freedom, your democracy is his cherished legacy,” U.S. President Barack Obama told the crowd at the 95,000-capacity stadium in Soweto. “The world thanks you for sharing Nelson Mandela with us.”
By Ruchi Singh
