Ooty, June 27 (ANI): Floral tributes in accordance with the military’s customs were paid to India ’s first Field Marshal, Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw at Ooty in Tamil Nadu today.

Field Marshal Manekshaw passed away on Friday morning at the Military Hospital in Wellington .

His body was brought to the Madras Regiment Centre (MRC) where it was kept for two hours for the public to pay homage.

This morning, his body was taken to his residence from the Military Hospital to perform religious rites as per Zoroastrian customs.

Manekshaw is being accorded a state funeral, a rare gesture to a legendary soldier and a national hero, who led the Indian Army to its greatest ever victory in the 1971 war.

Born on April 3, 1914 to Parsi parents belonging to the small Zoroastrian community of India , in Amritsar , Manekshaw was among the first batch of cadets to join the coveted Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, on October 1, 1932.

He was commissioned into the 12th Frontier Force Regiment in December 1934.

After the partition of India and Pakistan , Manekshaw remained in the Indian Army and was posted as Commandant of the Infantry School and Colonel of the 8th Gorkha Rifles, which became his parental regiment after the 12th Frontier Force went to the Pakistan Army.

In his career, spanning nearly four decades, Manekshaw rose to be the 8th chief of the world’s fourth largest Army on June 7, 1969. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India ’s second highest civilian honour, in 1972 and conferred the rank of Field Marshal on January 1, 1973.

Manekshaw retired on January 15, 1973, and later served on the board of directors of several private companies. (ANI)