A huge crowd had gathered at the village graveyard in Manakudi on Friday morning. Manakudi had lost 115 of its residents to the tsunami, which had struck this Tamil Nadu village on this day, exactly four years ago.
The crowd solemnly gathered around the black marble memorial that bore the name of each victim, and some wept openly in memory of their loved ones. Others placed flowers and lit candles at the spot.
Prayers were also held at the YMCA colony for tsunami victims.
The eastern and western parts of the village used to be connected by a huge bridge, which was snapped like a twig in the tsunami's relentless wrath. The massive girder still lies some 100 feet away from its base.
"On that day, a lot of people ran to the bridge, they thought it would be safe. Some of them were trapped under that girder. Nobody knows what happened to them," says Justine, a local resident.
His sister-in-law Mary added, "There are still 13 people missing from our village. We never found their bodies".
The state government immediately built a temporary bridge across the river. Four years later, the villagers are still waiting for a permanent bridge to come up in its place.
Image: The memorial at Kottilpadu for tsunami victims.
Text & Photographs: A Ganesh Nadar
Also read: Tsunami: Waves of destruction
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