After holding 15 guerilla-style meetings across Chennai on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has just landed in a helicopter in Thirunelveli.

The ground opposite the district court has been filling up with people for more than an hour, the crowds easily seeming to touch a hundred thousand. There are buntings, floats, balloons, giant TV screens, old MGR songs being played, a huge phalanx of khaki-clad men and women.

It's blazing hot, a few deaths have already been reported in previous election meetings but for the zealous crowds, Amma is god, for whom they will willingly lay down their lives.

Every seat has a plastic bag containing a cloth cap bearing Amma's image, three pouches of water, a Britannia Marie biscuit packet, and a packet of Glucon D (no, not Amma brand, not yet at least). There's also a rubber arm band in the AIADMK colours.

The roads leading to the ground are lined with women offering 'mor' (buttermilk), water, some offer local snack varieties like chilli bajji. All gratis, for Amma loves her children Thirunelveli is in Southern Tamil Nadu. Saisuresh Sivaswamy/ Rediff.com