Not sandalwood, but a readymade casket for Jaya’s mortal remains

“I got a call at 3.30 am to come to our office. When I reached, the Corporation Commissioner Dr Karthikeyan was in our office. He asked us to make the coffin for our CM Jayalalithaa. I was quite shocked. Though we have made caskets for Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister CN Annadurai and MG Ramachandran, I thought our late CM would be cremated as per Hindu tradition. However, we took down the specifications, and got to work immediately,” said Michael. Later, S Vijayakumar, Special Secretary to the Chief Minister and Dinesh Oliver, District Revenue Officer, also came at 7:30 am to our office to oversee the entire operation. 

The Chennai city police and Tamil Nadu Forest department officials were also present during the entire process. Typically, the time taken to make a coffin is three days, which includes the outer wooden case and the inner padding. However, because of the circumstances of this case, and the lack of time, 8 to 10 people were assigned for this job at 7 am.  

“The coffin which was used to bury the former CM took us eight hours to prepare. We had a readymade wooden coffin, to which we added the inner padding, then draped it with satin and attached silk tassels. What took time was the carved embossed name on the outer case of the coffin,” added Michael. Contrary to what has been reported in the media, the coffin was of regular wood, and sandalwood pieces, which was procured by the Forest department, was only used during the burial ceremony. The casket was ready by 3pm, and the funeral directors, with the help of a police escort, reached the MGR Memorial half an hour later. They set up the mechanism to lower the coffin into the ground, just in time for the burial. 

“We are the only company with the coffin lowering device in the city. It was indeed an honour to be a part of the funeral service of our late CM J Jayalalithaa,” Michael added. When asked about the cost of this entire process Michael said, “We haven’t raised the bill yet. And it is rather distasteful to send the bills immediately. We generally don’t send the bill along with the coffin. We take about a week or two before we send it.” However, as per their rates, a coffin of those specifications is priced at Rs 75,000.