PM Narendra Modi's mother passes away aged 100

She was admitted to U N Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre on Wednesday morning

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother Heeraben Modi, fondly known as Heeraba, passed away at the age of 100 at a multi-speciality hospital early Friday morning in Ahmedabad.

Modi, who rushed to Ahmedabad from Delhi, lit his mother's funeral pyre at a crematorium in section-30, Gandhinagar. Heeraba, a mother of five sons and a daughter, was living in Gandhinagar with her younger son Pankaj.

"A glorious century rests at the feet of God... In mother I have always felt that trinity, which contains the journey of an ascetic, the symbol of a selfless Karmayogi and a life committed to values," the PM tweeted soon after Heeraba's passing away. Modi had visited her at the hospital, UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre, on Wednesday after she was admitted following complaints of age related ailments. The new bulletin released by the hospital stated that she passed away at 3:30 am.

In another tweet, the prime minister said, "When I met her on her 100th birthday, she said one thing, which I always remember: work with intelligence, live life with purity, that is, work with intelligence and live life with purity." After becoming prime minister, Modi visited Heeraba several times on important occasions and sought her blessings. She lived away from the limelight and only during the PM's visit, her pictures would be flashed across the media platform.

June 18, 2022, was one such occasion when she turned 100. Her son visited her at their Raysan village residence, washed her feet and sought her blessings. The images went viral. Later that day, the prime minister wrote a blog on his website titled "Mother." "My Mother is as simple as she is extraordinary. Just like all mothers!," the PM wrote to describe his mother. Heeraba was seen with Modi on public stage only twice.

Read | World leaders condole demise of PM Modi's mother

According to the blog, on January 30, 1992, for the first time Heeraba appeared in public on occasion of felicitation of Modi who had returned from "Ekta Yatra" in Srinagar. The second time was the oath-taking ceremony of Modi as Gujarat chief minister in 2001 for the first time when Heeraba appeared in public.

Heeraba, who was from Visanagar, was married to Damodardas Mulchand Modi, in the neighbouring village Vadnagar in Mehsana district. Modi himself has described she grew up in hardship and "her childhood was one of poverty and deprivation." Describing her as a resilient woman, Modi said in his blog that Heeraba was "as simple as she was extraordinary just like all mothers."

"She was the eldest child in her family and became the eldest daughter-in-law after marriage. In her childhood, she used to take care of the entire family and manage all the chores. After marriage too, she picked up all these responsibilities. Despite the onerous responsibilities and everyday struggles, Mother held the entire family together with calm and fortitude," the PM wrote in his blog.

The blog says, "Mother used to wash utensils at a few houses to help meet the household expenses. She would also take out time to spin the charkha to supplement our meagre income. She would do everything from peeling cotton to spinning yarn. Even in this back-breaking work, her prime concern was ensuring that the cotton thorns don’t prick us."

Modi's blog also described her as a citizen "aware of her duties." It said that she voted in every election from gram panchayat to parliament. Another photograph of Heeraba which went viral was her standing in a queue during demonetisation in 2016.