Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami today inaugurated  Rs79-crore phoenix-shaped memorial built for late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa along the Marina beach in Chennai. Deputy Chief Minister, O. Panneerselvam was also present at the event.
All the ministers and other officials were seen wearing face masks in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.  people thronged the memorial amid tight security arrangements.

The memorial is surrounded by manicured lush gardens and water cascades. A state of the art museum and a knowledge park is present on the northern and southern end of the structure. Bust-size statues of MGR and Jayalalithaa are set up to welcome the visitors at the entrance.

Popularly known as 'Amma', Jayalalithaa breathed her last on December 5, 2016. Jayalalithaa, who was born in 1948, served five terms as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for over fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. In 1982, when MG Ramachandran was the chief minister, Jayalalithaa joined the AIADMK, the party he founded.

 Notably, Mr Palaniswami opens the memorial on the same day when Ms Jayalalithaa's close friend VK Sasikala, who was convicted and jailed in the Rs 66-crore disproportionate assets case, was released from a Bengaluru jail after 4 years of imprisonment.

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