Mourners Attend Tanna Cremation
Feb 16, 2003
THE thick smoke went up in billows. At the centre was the casket – with two coconuts placed at each of its corners.
THE thick smoke went up in billows. At the centre was the casket – with two coconuts placed at each of its corners. And the mourners gathered by the hundreds to witness the cremation of Jay Tanna former Youth MP for Eastern Uganda at the Hindu Crematorium, Lugogo on Friday.
Simon Mugenyi reports that Tanna, 24, died in a motor accident at Busitema, on the Jinja-Tororo highway, last week.
Before his body was taken to the crematorium, it was dressed at the family home in Kamwokya amidst a thick cloud of smoke.
One of the mourners explained that the smoke is a sign of Buddha’s presence to receive the deceased person’s spirit.
Only family members, including Tanna’s four-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter were allowed to view the body. Mourners were given petals to place on the body.
“Uganda has lost. We have lost, we have lost. I don’t know what the future was to be for him, but it is very sad that future will never be,†said Tim Lwanga, the Minister of State for Luweero Triangle.
MPs Aggrey Awori and Nusura Tiperu said Tanna was an ambitious, friendly and humourous young man who had brought life to the Parliament.
A Hindu priest from Kenya presided over prayers. By the time the prayers ended, most of the logs were turning into ash.
In the Hindu culture, the ash is taken to the family who throw it in the River Ganges, believed to be holy.
Tanna, a Ugandan of Indian origin, is also survived by a widow. Ends
GRIEF: Lwanga (left) and sports minister Okello Oryem (right) join other mourners
Simon Mugenyi reports that Tanna, 24, died in a motor accident at Busitema, on the Jinja-Tororo highway, last week.
Before his body was taken to the crematorium, it was dressed at the family home in Kamwokya amidst a thick cloud of smoke.
One of the mourners explained that the smoke is a sign of Buddha’s presence to receive the deceased person’s spirit.
Only family members, including Tanna’s four-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter were allowed to view the body. Mourners were given petals to place on the body.
“Uganda has lost. We have lost, we have lost. I don’t know what the future was to be for him, but it is very sad that future will never be,†said Tim Lwanga, the Minister of State for Luweero Triangle.
MPs Aggrey Awori and Nusura Tiperu said Tanna was an ambitious, friendly and humourous young man who had brought life to the Parliament.
A Hindu priest from Kenya presided over prayers. By the time the prayers ended, most of the logs were turning into ash.
In the Hindu culture, the ash is taken to the family who throw it in the River Ganges, believed to be holy.
Tanna, a Ugandan of Indian origin, is also survived by a widow. Ends
GRIEF: Lwanga (left) and sports minister Okello Oryem (right) join other mourners