Jayalalithaa’s Coffin Maker also Made Caskets for 500 VIPs 

Chennai: The coffin makers of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, who was laid to rest besides her political mentor M G Ramachandran’s memorial in Marina Beach in Chennai, has also prepared coffins for more than 500 celebrities including former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and veteran actors Sivaji Ganesan and Manorama.

"The coffin was built with a freezer box with a heavy duty compressor to keep the body fresh. The exterior was gold plated," a ToI report stated quoting P R M M Shanthakumar, managing director of Flying Squad and Homage Company, the company that had designed the coffin.

Shanthakumar obtained the patent for designing and preparing coffins in 1994. The coffin at Rajaji Hall - where Jayalalithaa's body was kept for public homage- was lowered forward so as to enable visitors to see the body from a distance. While many were afraid that the body will slip in the coffin under its weight, Shantakumar's perfect fittings saved the day. "The body didn't tilt with the titling with the coffin as we had attached proper fixtures and arrangements to the coffin," Shanthakumar said.

Shanthakumar has been in the business of coffin-making since 1994. The first coffin that he built for a politician was for former state minister V R Nedunchezhian. "We have built coffins for more than 500 VVIP's in Tamil Nadu and all the other southern states till now," he says.