The last rites of Matua matriarch Binapani Devi, better known as ‘Boroma’, will be performed today at her hometown, Thakurnagar, in North 24-Parganas. She will be given a gun salute and state funeral, as announced by West bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Boroma passed away passed away late on Tuesday in Kolkata. She was 100.

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Since Wednesday morning, there was a conflict in the community about when their beloved matriarch will be cremated. A section of devotees and followers preferred to perform the last rites on Wednesday but the younger son of Boroma, Manjul Krishna Thakur, wished that it should be performed on Thursday as hundreds of followers who reside outside the state are on their way to reach Thakurnagar to see her for the last time.

A series of meetings led by the members of the All India Matua Mahasangha, monks and devotees were held to resolve the dispute and finally, it was decided that the last rites of Boroma will be held Thursday morning.

READ | Matua matriarch Boroma is no more, PM Modi hails her as ‘icon of our times’

Accompanied by thousands of followers, the mortal remains of ‘Boroma’ were taken from SSKM Hospital in Kolkata to her hometown at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas around 11 am Wednesday. As the news of her death spread across the state, lakhs of followers headed to the Matua Mahasangha headquarters in Thakurnagar to see their beloved Boroma for the last time.

The centenarian leader of the influential Schedule Caste community passed away due to multi-organ failure at the state-run SSKM Hospital late on Tuesday.

Expressing grief at her passing away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the Matua leader as “an icon of our times”. He also recalled his visit to Thakurnagar to seek the blessings of the Matua matriarch in February this year. “Boro Ma Binapani Thakur was an icon of our times. A source of great strength and inspiration for several people, Boro Ma’s rich ideals will continue to influence generations. Her emphasis on social justice and harmony will never be forgotten,” the PM tweeted. “Last month, I had the honour of seeking the blessings of Boro Ma Binapani Thakur at Thakurnagar. I will always cherish the interaction I had with her. We stand in solidarity with the Matua community in this hour of sadness,”he added.

CM Mamata Banerjee, too, expressed her condolences and announced a state-funeral with gun salute for the departed matriarch. “I am deeply pained at passing away of Matua matriarch Boro Ma Binapani Thakur. My condolences to her family & my brothers & sisters of Matua Community at this moment of grief. It was a great opportunity for me to meet Boro Ma last November, on the centenary of her birthday,” she tweeted.

“After overseeing arrangements I just left the hospital. 6 senior ministers there to take care of the last rites. She will be accorded state-funeral with gun salute tomorrow. We are proud to have conferred Banga Bibhusan on Boro Ma. May her soul rest in peace,” Banerjee added.

Admitted to JNM Hospital in Nadia district on 28 February following shortness of breath and fever, Boroma was shifted to the SSKM on Sunday after her condition deteriorated. Boroma breathed her last at 8.52 p.m. on Tuesday. Her body was brought to Thakurnagar at 11 a.m. today. Lakhs of followers had already arrived in the town to pay their respects to Boroma.

Boroma was the chief adviser of the the Matua Mahasangha. Considered to be Bengal’s second most influential Scheduled Caste community comprising primarily Hindu refugees from Bangladesh, it has over one crore members spread over various southern Bengal districts, especially North 24 Parganas. Launched by the followers of Harichand Thakur, it began as a religious reformation movement that originated in what is now called Bangladesh. Born in Jabdakathi village of Barishal district (now in Bangladesh), Boroma was in 1933 married to Pramatha Ranjan Thakur, a freedom fighter and great-grandson of Harichand.

After Partition in 1947, a large number of Matua community members migrated to West Bengal. Pramatha Ranjan died in 1990, following which Binapani Devi took over the leadership of the community, which has always been wooed by various political parties in the state as it commands over 70 lakh votes in various southern districts and plays a sizeable role in determining the electoral fortunes in at least 74 seats of the state’s 294 Assembly seats.