His mortal remains were interred in a sandalwood casket and lowered into the earth at Marina Beach. As per Karunanidhi's wish, the wordings -- "The person who had worked without rest is resting here" -- was sculpted on the casket.
In poignant scenes, MK Stalin was seen crying inconsolably after touching his father's feet before the casket containing Karunanidhi's body was lowered into the grave. The leader's youngest daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi fondly caressed his head and cheek one last time.
Karunanidhi being a self-proclaimed atheist and rationalist, no Hindu rituals were performed.
Karunanidhi was buried with full military honours with soldiers giving him a gun salute and buglars sounding the last post.
A galaxy of leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, and his Kerala, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh counterparts Pinarayi Vijayan, K Chandrasekhar Rao and N Chandrababu Naidu were in attendance.
So were CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, his predecessor Prakash Karat, and former chief ministers of Kerala and Uttar Pradesh Oommen Chandy and Akilesh Yadav.
The Madras High Court on Wednesday gave its nod to bury Karunanidhi at Marina Beach after a legal battle. The government had initially refused permission.
The court ruled in DMK's favour and the Thalaivar got his final resting place next to his mentor and former chief
minister C N Annadurai.
"There is no legal impediment for not allotting the place... Provide a place for a decent burial forthwith in terms of the rough sketch given by the petitioner," the division bench of the court comprising Acting Chief Justice H G Ramesh and S S Sundar ruled.
"There is no legal impediment for not allotting the place. Already alloted place in the marina for all Dravidian leaders. There is no need to take different stand in the present case," the bench said.