New Delhi: India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat were given a send-off with full military honours at the Brar Square crematorium in Delhi Cantonment on Friday evening, two days after they were killed with 11 others, all from the armed forces, in a helicopter crash in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu.
As millions watched on television and hundreds packed into Brar Square, the couple's two daughters Tarini and Kritika conducted the last rites of their parents.
On a day of barely held back tears framed by the solemnity of the formal pageantry of a tri-services ceremony, thoughts were also with the families of those whose last rites could not take place because their bodies are at the Army Base Hospital awaiting identification.
Only three of the 13 bodies have been identified so far. Earlier in the morning, Brigadier L S Lidder, who was also on the Russian-made Mi-17V5 chopper and was defence assistant to the CDS, was cremated with honours at Brar Square.
A ceremonial battery of 2233 Field Regiment provided gun carriage. About 800 service personnel were in attendance for the military funeral of the CDS.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju as well as politicians, diplomats and others paid their last respects to Madhulika Rawat and 63-year-old Bipin Rawat, who was tasked to bring in theatre command and jointness among the three services and was pushing it with a tough approach and specific timelines.
Defence officials of several countries also paid tribute to them. The foreign military commanders who attended the cremation included Gen Shavendra Silva, Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Sri Lankan Army, Principal Staff Officer of the Armed forces division of Bangladesh Lt Gen Waker-UZ-Zaman, Deputy Chief Operations Officer of Royal Bhutan Army Brig Dorji Rinchen and Chief of General Staff of the Nepali Army Lt Gen Bal Krishna Karki.
Admiral Ravindra Chandrasiri Wijegunaratne (Retd), a former Chief of Defence Staff of Sri Lanka, also came to pay his homage to Gen Rawat. The two military commanders were batch-mates at the National Defence College.
As a priest chanted Sanskrit shlokas, the 17-gun salute rang out in accordance with the protocol, and the pyre was lit.
"Both Gen Rawat and my sister were cremated on a common pyre. We will pick the ashes early morning tomorrow in a 'kalash' and then head to Haridwar where the ashes will be immersed in holy Ganga and some rituals will be performed," said Gen Rawat's brother-in-law Yash Vardhan Singh.
Outside the Brar Square, where the funerals were conducted with military precision, huge crowds of mourners gathered to say their goodbyes. People showered flower petals and as the flower-bedecked gun carriage carrying the late general's mortal remains, wrapped in the tricolour, entered the crematorium, the only sounds that could be heard were slogans and chants in praise of him.
The final journey of CDS Rawat and his wife began from his official Kamraj Marg residence amid chants of "Jab tak suraj chand rahega, Rawat ji ka naam rahega".
As the cortege wound its way through the streets of Lutyen's Delhi towards Brar Square, about 10 km away, surging crowds jogged alongside. It was a sea of people, some holding the tricolour aloft and others their mobile phones to capture the moment.
At one point, a man in a white kurta pyjama was seen running along the biers trying to take a selfie. Slogans of Vande Mataram , Gen Rawat Amar Rahe and Bharat Mata ki Jai could be heard too.
Military personnel drawn from all the three services marched on the streets as drummers played along in tribute to India's first CDS.
At several points through the journey, mourners stood with flowers in their hands to offer in tribute. And at some points, groups of people could be seen exchanging places with those who were accompanying the funeral procession on foot.
At the Rawat home in the morning, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Chief Justice of India N V Ramana the host of people, including seers, who laid wreaths on the mortal remains of Gen Rawat and his wife. Among them were some who belonged to Uttarakhand, the general's home state.
Tarini and Kritika, who stood in sombre silence next to the mortal remains of their father and mother as the large number of visitors streamed in, performed traditional rituals at their home before the funeral procession began around 2.20 pm.
Jaipur-based Vijay Rawat, 60, Gen Rawat's younger brother was there too.
The Lidder family also spoke briefly of their grief.
Geetika Lidder, wife of Brig Lidder, 52, told reporters after the cremation that she feels more pain than any pride.
"Life is too long to spend but if this is the wish of God, we will live with it. This is not the way we wanted him back It is a big loss," she added.
Her daughter Aashna Lidder said she is 17 and will keep all the good memories of the 17 years she spent with her father.