Tamil Nadu today bid a tearful farewell to legendary Tamil actress Manorama, as her body was cremated here after a funeral procession attended by thousands of people, fans, and members of the film fraternity.

Earlier, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa arrived at the residence of Manorama in T Nagar, placed a wreath and showered encomiums on the actress and hailed her as "elder sister."

"There are no words to describe my grief, she is my elder sister in film industry," she told Manorama's relatives.

Reminiscing about her long association with her, she said Manorama used to affectionately serve her food whenever she went to her house. "She has come to my house many times and we have had food together, I cannot forget those days, no one can break the bond between us," Jayalalithaa said.

MGR had special affection for Manorama and Sivaji Ganesan used to hail her as a genius in acting, she added. "She is truly a genius, there is no achiever like her in the Tamil film industry, not only before her and also no one is going to be born hereafter, her death is an irreparable loss, the vacuum left by her cannot be filled by anybody."

Even as fans and public continued to pour in at Manorama's residence, the funeral procession began.